


Death? No (Your punishment is living)

by KillingJoke98



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: A reboot!, And much lonelier, Centipede Kaneki Ken, F/M, Gen, He has a job, Kaneki was dropped into PJO, Multi, Overpowered Kaneki Ken, Prepare for canon to disappear, Protective Kaneki Ken | Sasaki Haise, The gods don't know what to do with him, he's older now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:01:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23579587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KillingJoke98/pseuds/KillingJoke98
Summary: He roamed a battlefield whose participants had fallen a long time ago. Sifting through the ashes, he continued on his path, alone.Sally Jackson met him for the first time on a cold night in a park. He offered his help. She took it and never looked back. Often, she wondered what had possessed this kind-hearted mortal to help her.In a world full of gods and monsters, Kaneki Ken was easy to overlook. Far too easy to overlook. Blending into the background, he walked through life with the same grace and ease he once had walking through his battles.May the gods have mercy on those who had angered him.
Relationships: Kaneki Ken and Percy Jackson, Kaneki Ken and Sally Jackson, Kaneki Ken and Zoë Nightshade, Percy Jackson & Sally Jackson, Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase - Relationship, Romantic Pairings show up when I get better at feelings
Comments: 22
Kudos: 123





	1. REady? Let's begin.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact, the documents on which I’ve written the chapters for my stories on Fanfiction.net and Ao3 are separate. I haven’t touched this one ever since I ran away. December 2018. Now it’s April 2020, I’m older, most definitely not wiser and have two new stories to worry about. So, four in total. Long story, no pun intended. This came from FF.Net.
> 
> To those new to my story, hi! This is a reboot, if it wasn’t obvious enough. I hope that it’s up to standards. Let’s begin.

In the grips of the Minotaur, fighting for her life, Sally Jackson was prepared to die. She had been from day one of interacting with the world of Greek Gods. From the day she realized that the people and things she could see weren’t as common as she thought they were. She learned to keep her head down, avoid whatever spawn of Tartarus was roaming the streets, hunting for those with ichor in their veins, no matter how diluted it was. Sometimes, she wondered whether her life would have been easier if she was born without her gift(her curse) of sight. But, as with most of the dark thoughts that flitted across her mind occasionally, she always managed to find things that made it worthwhile. Without her sight, she wouldn’t have met her lover. Without her sight, she wouldn’t have had Percy. One might argue that the things she had gone through to make sure he stayed safe(and she grimaced as her thoughts briefly went to the slimeball she had been forced to call her husband), outweighed whatever joy she could have gotten from his existence, but she would gladly sell her soul just to make sure Percy continued living, continued smiling. Even if he never understood what she had sacrificed to keep him safe. 

She choked on nothing as her air supply got cut off, the Minotaur barely exerting any effort to increase the pressure on her throat. Percy was watching with a look of sheer terror on his face, struggling to shoulder Grover’s weight as the semi-conscious satyr babbled aloud, all but a few of his words inaudible over the sounds of thunder and the heavy breathing of the abomination that was about to kill her. As her vision began to fade to black, she felt a shift and a temporary release on her airway allowed her to take a much needed gulp of air, she almost wished that she hadn’t as her vision cleared. The monster had shifted the grip on her neck in order to raise her up, and from what she could see, it was about to smash her into the ground. She felt fear coil around her spine. She didn’t know what it was like to get smashed into the ground by a half-human, half-bull, but something told her that she was about to find out. Swallowing down her fear, she met Percy’s eyes and forced a smile onto her face. If this was going to be the last time she saw her son before hitching a ride on Charon’s ferry, she didn’t want his last memory of her to be tarnished with pain and terror. And as she felt the switch in movement, the beginnings of her descent to the ground, she hoped that she had done right with her life. 

“I’d prefer it if you stepped away from Jackson-san.” a familiar voice interrupted her last thoughts, and a welcome figure appeared in her line of sight. She had half a second to wonder why he was here before her world blurred. One moment she was about to introduce herself to the ground, the next moment she was on her feet behind a cloaked figure. The Minotaur no longer looked so intimidating without an arm(and she noted the sudden large amount of golden dust covering her and the earth). The white-haired figure of her saviour stood in a loose stance, relaxed despite the threat in front of him. He gently placed down a metallic briefcase and rolled up his sleeves, revealing pale, unmarked skin. At least, one first glance. Just because she was in such close proximity with him(and this being the first time she had seen him without long sleeves), she noticed the thin lines tracing his arms, creating an almost invisible patchwork pattern. Sally filed that information away for later use. Right now, she had more pressing concerns to address. 

“Ken? What are you doing here?” he gave her a sheepish smile, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes( _ the usual Ken then _ ) and returned his attention to the silent beast. It watched him, eyes gleaming with something akin to intelligence, but with an unhealthy amount of rage. For the first time since it had attacked her, the Minotaur seemed more human than beast. It snarled, clutching the stump that was once an arm. Not very surprising. What was more shocking was the fact that Ken snarled right back. The monster recoiled from the mortal that had prevented it from killing her, as startled as she was by the sound. Turning her head to look at Percy, he gestured from the man standing in front of him to her, raising an eyebrow and mouthing “what the hell”. She smiled despite the situation, mouthed the word “later” before returning her attention to the situation. This was a surreal scene, a mortal staring down a monster from long before his time, unarmed except for a strange briefcase. And yet...how had he taken the arm from the thing that had grabbed her? 

“Have you forgotten what I told you when we first met Jackson-san?” he cracked a knuckle, a sound that made her shiver. Ken was a mortal, dwarfed by the sheer size of his opponent but also the man who had just saved her for the second time with nothing but his bare hands, destroying one of its arms. As usual, Kaneki Ken was a walking mass of contradictions. He had been ever since she first met him. He began walking towards the monster, briefcase left in the grass, as it straightened in response to the challenge. Despite the height difference, he looked far more threatening as compared to the one that opposed him. Sally felt a mixture of emotions, cycling through fear, anger, doubt and finally settling on frustration. At her own inability to protect her child. At having to cower behind the back of someone who probably saw the Minotaur as a regular beast instead of a fusion between human and bull. A man who would surely die if he was hit. As she prepared to make a run for it, Ken’s next words were like a splash of cold water to her face, drawing her out of her thoughts. Both the words and the tone in which they were spoken. 

“I told you that I would protect you. Whether it be that prick that was putting his filthy paws on you...or a washed up half-human reject that should have  **just stayed dead the first time I killed it** .”  _ He can see through the Mist? Wait...he killed it before? How? _ His tone was ice cold, brimming with rage and yet completely in control. Like someone had harnessed the force of a hurricane and bent it to their will. Not for the first time, a stray thought crossed her mind.  **_He’s dangerous._ **

The Minotaur roared again, swinging a fist towards the mortal that stood in its way. Ken responded with a punch of his own. The two fists made contact. If this was a movie, this point would last for an eternity, slowed down to see exactly what happened frame by frame. However, this is real life. And somehow, Kaneki Ken was much stronger. One second, the duo were connected by their fists. The next, the Minotaur had a matching stump. Completely unruffled, Ken dashed forward and in a shocking display of agility, kicked off the chest of his armless opponent and backflipped, both legs smashing into the chin of the monster and separating its head from its shoulders. The moment he landed, rather gently, on the ground, was also the same moment for what remained of the once Minotaur to burst into golden dust. It may have just been her imagination, but the dust seemed to settle everywhere but on Kaneki Ken himself. The victor dusted himself off lightly and tugged at his sleeves to readjust them, walking back to face Sally and picking up the briefcase along the way. 

She stared in awe at the mortal who had just brought down one of the Greek monsters, a feat heard about only in past legends. He gazed right back, eyes flicking from her face to her neck, then to her son and the still semi-conscious Grover. Then Ken smiled, and this time it reached his eyes. He placed a hand on her shoulder and seemed to deflate with the contact. He tilted his head down to look at the ground, and she could feel the minute trembling coursing through the arm in contact with her. Suddenly pulling her into a one-armed hug, Sally yelped at the sudden motion before relaxing and returning it. For a brief moment, she felt safe again.  _ Ken always gave the best hugs.  _

“You saved me.”

“I thought I was going to be too late, Jackson-san. I had a bad feeling so I went to look for you. Almost had a heart attack when I saw the burning car.”

“I must be really lucky then.”

“Please don’t do that again. I’ve broken enough rules just by being here.” it was her turn to look down at the ground(or rather, over his shoulder), self-hatred from earlier resurfacing with a vengeance. Of course, Ken must have been a demigod. How else could one explain the ability to see through the Mist and the supernatural strength and agility? Demigods rarely survived till they were adults. To have done so, Ken must have been extremely careful about keeping a low profile. And he had thrown that out the window the first time she got into trouble with the godly world. Somehow sensing her thoughts, he tightened the hug. 

“Don’t apologize. I’m just glad you’re safe. I’ve spent too long hiding anyway. Judging by the looks your son keeps directing at us, I believe we have somewhere we need to go?”

“We?”

“Did you think that I would just let you leave after what happened? I’ve broken so many rules, might as well break a few more.” Ken disengaged from the hug, much to her disappointment. Beckoning to Percy, he gestured for the satyr that he had draped over himself like a sack of potatoes. Percy gave him a suspicious glance, then directed a silent question at her. She nodded, which made him give Grover to Ken before running towards her and hugging her as well. She ruffled his hair, whispering apologies as he shook in her embrace. They stood like that for a couple of moments before a hand tapped on her shoulder. She looked at Ken, who had managed to sling Grover over one shoulder with what seemed to be no effort and he tilted his head. She gently broke the embrace, still holding one of Percy’s hands before using the other to point towards Camp Half-Blood. He readjusted his grip on his new luggage and began walking, Sally and her son following soon after. They walked quickly, her instincts prickling with each clap of thunder as they climbed up the hill(which was not fun in the rain). Upon reaching the lone pine tree on the hill, Ken paused to run a hand almost reverently across the bark, a brief look of fury crossing his face. It was quickly snuffed out when he noticed her watching, so she averted her eyes, redirecting them to the man in a wheelchair getting pushed by a blonde girl(and making another note to question him later). The man inclined his head as a form of greeting and she saw his wheelchair flicker for a moment to reveal equestrian legs. Ah. A centaur. 

“Hello Ms Sally Jackson, Percy and… who are you, may I ask?” the fake smile on the centaur’s face(she heard Percy mutter something about a teacher) could rival that of her saviour. The two sized each other up, a thoughtful glint emerging in Ken’s eyes. He hooked the briefcase onto a finger, extending his now free hand in greeting, a small smirk gracing his face. 

“Ken Kaneki, sir. I prefer to be called Kaneki, everyone calls me Kaneki, apart from Jackson-san, who refuses to use that name. Can we come in, or will I have to force my way in?” the girl pushing the wheelchair gave a derisive chuckle at the implied threat, but quickly sobered at how the centaur paled with Ken’s words. Composing himself, the older male took his hand and shook it briefly. 

“No need for threats, Mr Kaneki. I, Chiron, permit Ms Sally Jackson and Mr Ken Kaneki to enter the camp. Could you pass Grover to the teenagers waiting behind us? He looks like he needs medical treatment.” 

Ken didn’t reply, choosing to step through the camp borders without a second thought and gently handing the satyr to a group of boys with a stretcher. Sally tugged Percy along when he didn’t move, trying to process what was going on. Chiron( _ the  _ Chiron?) brought up the rear with his helper. She checked over Percy to make sure he wasn’t injured, before gesturing to Chiron. He hesitated, then shrugged and began to pepper “Mr Brunner” with questions. Ken stood at the edge of the camp borders, staring at the dark sky with a blank face. She brushed past the small group that had formed, all watching him, joining him at his side. They stood there, watching the skies and ignoring the whispers behind them. It was a peaceful silence, broken abruptly a few minutes later by a large dog. Well, a Hellhound. It raced up the hill and slammed into an invisible barrier, growling and resuming its attempts each time it bounced off the shield. Ken watched its efforts. She could see the gears turning inside his head as he gently set down the briefcase and flicked the latches. Not quite understanding, she wondered why a Hellhound would hammer at a barrier that was impenetrable. That was until she saw the small horde of monsters gathering at the base of the hill, moving closer with each second. Chiron had also noticed the threat, calling for everyone to step back from the camp borders. Nevertheless, the duo stood their ground, one mesmerized by the chaos, another hesitating before an unlocked briefcase. As the Hellhound made its tenth attempt to break the barrier, a dome of ethereal light flickered into being around Camp Half-Blood. Cries of alarm began to permeate the air as it grew dimmer with each hit, visible cracks webbing from the impact. Before the camp’s protection could fail(why was it failing?), the Hellhound ran onto a sword instead of into a wall. It let out a gurgle before bursting into dust and revealing what had pierced it. A Japanese looking sword, glowing red and pulsing, held by one Ken Kaneki. The man no longer looked so uncertain as he patted Sally on the shoulder before stepping outside the failing wall. Facing the horde. 

“Mr Kaneki, I do not know who you think you are, but please get back inside the camp! The borders will be strong enough to hold, they always have been! You will die fighting them alone!” Chiron shouted as his fake legs shifted aside and he stood in his true form, already reaching for a quiver of arrows and a bow that a teenager handed to him. Sally was about to utter a similar line of thought before Ken looked at them. His eyes blazed silver, and for the first time since she had met him, the man with eyes older than his form looked alive. 

“If you didn’t already notice, these impenetrable walls are going to break soon. I can’t just let that happen. Not when I have someone here to protect.” his eyes shifted to meet hers and he offered a small smile. She watched, entranced as he turned his back on them, drawing a line in the ground with the sword. The horde reached the top of the hill as he finished doing so, the leaders of the pack being none other than three demonic looking ladies. The Furies. Joy, they had angered a god. One raised a hand and the monsters stopped their charge, looking almost with a human-like curiosity at the person that stood in their way, one man in front of an army. 

“Step aside,  _ mortal _ . We do not have any grievances with you. Give us the boy and we will leave.” Sally felt Percy tense behind her. So they had figured it out. Ken took a long look at the army of monsters, then to the three Furies themselves. He radiated an aura of contempt. He made no sound. The Fury who had spoken waited a few more seconds before snorting in disdain. 

“So be it. You will be the first to die.” and with that, the Fury lunged at him, claws outstretched and ready to tear him to ribbons. Part of her heard the sounds of horror coming from the impromptu audience that believed they were about to watch someone die. She felt disconnected from her body as her eyes were inexplicably drawn to the line in the dirt. As the Fury passed it, Ken  _ moved _ . 

As with his previous fight, one moment his opponent was there, ready to claw his face apart and the next, she was sliced into three. The parts continued past him and bounced off the camp borders, which would have been almost comical if there wasn’t a look of terror on the severed head that was clearly still alive, mouth opening and closing in a silent scream. Ken caught the head as it returned, dropping it to the ground and grinding a heel into it hard enough to cause the Fury to burst into dust. He no longer looked so little before the monsters he faced. The remaining two Furies did not move, and neither did those behind the man, too shocked to react. He took a step forward, and the Furies took a step back before catching themselves. The sword pulsed more furiously as he raised it to point at the general direction of the horde. Ken now radiated an aura of power and bloodlust, not unlike a wild animal. Only this wild animal was an enigma with a sword just as mysterious as its owner. In the silence, a knuckle made an ear splitting crack. 

“You’re next.” 


	2. What's a god to a non-believer.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Canon gets destroyed with a sledgehammer. We see more fighting and even more chaos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing much to say here apart from, dear god, I really need to catch a break. Then again lockdown is a break...hmm.

Time seemed to stand still for the man with the glowing sword. Briefly, it seemed as if Ken Kaneki wasn’t just a mortal. Then, shaking themselves from the stupor they were in, the remaining two Furies shrieked. Unlike the first one, they chose to hang back, allowing the monster horde to charge him in their place. It would be inaccurate to call the battle one-sided. From an outsider’s point of view, this wasn’t a battle, but the last stand of a desperate man. What could one person with a sword do? Such thoughts were in the minds of almost all of those watching from behind their protective barrier, scrambling for weapons or just staring with a mixture of horror and awe at the mysterious person who had stepped outside to buy them time. Chiron nocked an arrow, aiming for the Furies. Take out the leaders fast enough, and maybe the rest would be sent into enough disarray for the campers to rally and fight back. He let loose the first arrow as the first monster, another Hellhound similar to the one that had almost shattered the previously impenetrable barrier protecting Camp Half-Blood crossed the line Kaneki had drawn in the dirt. He swung the sword as an arrow sprouted in the neck of the first Fury, too focused they were on the anomaly that had killed one of their own in seconds that they neglected the others still watching the scene. She managed to let out a cry of agony before a second arrow silenced her cry by piercing her forehead. The second one turned to look at him with an expression of utter bafflement as golden dust covered her like a blanket, replaced shortly by hatred and took flight. She barely made half the distance needed to reach the borders before a surge of killing intent drew everyone’s attention to Kaneki. 

He was already in the middle of battle, having forsaken the line he had etched between himself and the horde, leaving behind clouds of golden dust that had barely settled as he  _ moved _ . The sword he carried(perhaps a relic that allowed him to see and fight monsters?) flashed once, then twice more and bodies tumbled to the floor shortly before disintegrating as well. Chiron took the display as what it was, a distraction, and fired off a volley of arrows towards the last of the three aids of Hades. He cursed when she reacted quickly enough to dodge all but one, which she ripped from her forearm almost nonchalantly. He resumed his shooting, aiming so that even if they were off target(or dodged), he would still be able to thin the horde or at least slow it down for the whirlwind of death in their midst. The Fury resumed her flight, an expression that reeked of smugness on her face as she got closer to the cracked glass-like dome that was still flickering. He shouted for the campers to get back, the younger ones already retreating while the older ones drew their weapons, standing their ground with abject terror directed towards the threat flying at them. It crashed into the dome and punched straight through it like a demented bullet, leaving a sizable hole in the solid light that had gotten even dimmer. To his relief, the Fury aimed for him first, most likely attempting to take out the biggest threat first.  _ Good,  _ he thought,  _ focus on me and not on the rest _ . He had one shot at this before he would be met with a flurry of claws and teeth. Drawing back the bowstring, he took aim, heartbeat slow and even despite the fear coursing through his veins. She grinned at the gesture of defiance, never changing her flight path. It was as if his father had returned, using his powers over time to lengthen this moment into an eternity. He released the arrow and immediately angled his bow to protect his chest, knowing instinctively that he had missed(and was proven correct when it shifted its head out of the way, grin widening). 

“I’m borrowing this.” his eyes snapped to the appearance of the white-haired demon in mid-air behind the Fury, sword missing, practically caked with glowing powder. Replacing the sword was the arrow that had missed. Grabbing the monster’s head, he drove the arrowhead into the side of her temple before hanging onto it with both hands. As he landed on the ground(dragging the Fury with him like a demented kite), Kaneki accelerated the dying of the monster with a savage twist of his hands, practically cutting her head in half before pulling the arrow back out. Not stopping for a second, he dashed back into the fray, Chiron’s eyes following as he did so. Annabeth had rushed to his side immediately after Kaneki had left, stopping her frantic checks of him for injuries as the battlefield’s true glory was etched into his retinas. 

“Di Immortales…” he breathed as he witnessed the carnage one man had brought down upon the land. The horde may have had roughly seventy monsters in it, a mixture of beasts and the undead that he would have been hard pressed to fight with maybe twenty experienced demigods at his beck and call. And yet, looking at the few monsters left to fight the reaper that was Kaneki Ken, he wondered what this person had gone through to turn him into a war machine. He pulled his sword out from the remaining half of a monster so mutilated he couldn’t discern its identity(and oddly enough, the lump of flesh vanished upon the sword’s removal) and swung it with both arms. A simple diagonal slash, one that cleaved through monster flesh and the ground upon smashing into it as well like a hot knife through butter. Not missing a beat, he ripped the sword from the ground once again and spun with it held in a reverse grip, bisecting a cyclops that had charged at him from behind, arms flailing. As it’s singular eye flickered shut, the cyclops screamed when the blade that had separated it into two was driven through and used as a springboard for Kaneki to launch himself towards a harpy desperately trying to fly away. Rising to its height, he gave a smile that reeked of sadism before grabbing onto its shoulders and flipping himself over onto its back. In a move that made him wince(and caused Annabeth to gag), he grasped both wings and tore them off in a single fluid motion. As the harpy began its forced descent back to the ground, he kicked off once again, softening his impact with the face of the last remaining Hellhound(they seemed to have bad luck with him). The cyclops from earlier staggered and finally fell apart, the weapon used to kill it falling to the earth with a clatter. Rather than retrieve his weapon, Kaneki brought up his fists in a boxer-like stance, daring the three remaining monsters to attack him. Showing some type of rudimentary intelligence, the cyclops, harpy and skeleton warrior(the last one gave Chiron a bad feeling) circled him and attacked him from two sides and the air. Despite himself, Chiron still reached for another arrow even as the one man army threw a punch that pierced straight through the cyclops’ midsection, pulled back to reveal some organ in his hand(which was then forced into the mouth of its owner), ducked under the harpy’s claws and blocked the sword aimed at his head with an arm. Instead of cutting through malleable flesh, it shattered like it had met steel, which gave Kaneki an immensely short duration, in which the skeleton staggered back, to react and tear the offender apart with both hands. Bones scattered and still airborne, he snatched a rib and repeatedly stabbed the harpy that had foolishly gone for a second dive bomb, pinning it down after the first stab with a foot and driving the bone into whatever he could get his hands on. Even when the final monster stopped twitching, he still continued stabbing, only stopping when the bone snapped from the strain. Chest heaving, the white haired male who looked like King Midas had graced him with a touch staggered back to grasp his sword and hefted it over one shoulder. As he turned his back on the battlefield he had so quickly emptied of fighters, Chiron was reminded of the demigod soldiers returning from their battles in World War II. Eyes haunted, but burning with a fire, the fire that resided in every boy or girl with a hint of ichor in them, because gods bred violence. Yet, this mortal which had showed up with a briefcase and a threat was like them and more. His eyes did not just burn, they blazed with silver fire. At that moment, Chiron thought that he was in the presence of a god of war, not Ares, but a true god of war. No one spoke a word as he picked up the metal case he had opened and managed to holster the sword in it. There were no words to describe the situation. 

And of course, just because the camp was safe again, things decided to fall apart. 

A fissure opened in the ground, more skeletons climbing out of it. They were followed by a pale man who radiated power. Chiron trembled at the sight of him and in a small voice, whispered the god’s name.

* * *

“Hades.” Annabeth felt her heart clench at the absolute fear in her mentor’s voice. At first glance, the God of Death wasn’t very impressive. Then again, looks were deceiving.  _ The new kid must be something special.  _ After all, you don’t get a god to personally show up without a good reason for them to do so. And when the God of the Underworld was the one after your head, one could only wonder what the person had done to piss him off. The skeleton warriors assembled into a rough formation, shield bearers at the front, spear wielders behind them and about twelve archers behind them. They stayed stock still, almost as if they were awaiting orders(which they probably were). Hades stepped in front of them, eyes cold and emotionless, locked onto the man who had introduced himself as Ken Kaneki(Japanese?) and the boy who had followed him, wrapped in his mother’s arms(there was an unpleasant feeling in her chest at the sight of motherly love). He spoke in a voice that reminded her of the sensation of sandpaper. 

“Perseus Jackson and...who are you?” Ken Kaneki said nothing, but she could tell by the tiny movements his arms made that he was already exhausted from the giant fight he had from earlier. She wasn’t surprised, considering how quickly he had darted around the monsters, ripping and tearing a bloody(correction:dusty) path of destruction through them, even disengaging from the battle to aid Chiron in taking out the last of the three Furies. For one person, that was a feat on par with the legends of past warriors. When no answer came, Hades adopted a look of disdain(and while unnoticed by the god himself, Kaneki’s fists had tightened as soon as the expression of utter disinterest had crept across the god’s face). A hand glowed with black fire as he gestured towards the petrified boy that had drawn his attention. 

“No matter. Child, you have stolen something of mine. Return it and I will spare you.” Annabeth could feel the undercurrent of confusion running through the campers. From the awe that this Perseus Jackson had shown when Chiron had revealed his true form, he hadn’t even known about the Greek world before this day. Of course, it could be a ploy, but feelings were hard to fake and her instincts told her that she was on the right track. Another beat of silence passed before Hades’ face contorted into a snarl. He snapped his fingers and stood with hands behind his back as his soldiers started their slow shamble towards the damaged barrier. 

“My brothers and sisters will forgive me if their children die. After all, they’ll just make more, the shameless lot of them. I hope you understand what you have done Perseus Jackson. These children will die in fear and in pain because you refused to give up something that did not belong to you. I do not condone violence, but it is of utmost importance that I reclaim it, especially during this time.” 

“Hades, you must understand that these are just children. Please, have some mercy.” the god in question tossed Chiron a pitying look, yet the skeletons continued marching forward. Chiron began to reach for another arrow before a pale hand placed itself on his arm. Kaneki and the centaur exchanged a silent conversation before the arm dropped back to his side and the mysterious mortal walked forward, once again placing himself as a physical barrier between Camp Half-Blood and the enemy. A hand reached inside the coat that had taken many hits and yet was as pristine as it was at the beginning, if one ignored the golden dust that fell from it with each movement. The sword made a reappearance(how did it fit inside that case? And why did it look alive?) at his side and he drew what seemed like a black mask from his coat. The god now focused his attention on the new person to pique his interest, and the skeleton warriors froze in mid step. 

“You asked me who I was,” and Annabeth witnessed the faint glimmer of a smile, one that screamed  _ I know something you don’t _ , “have you already forgotten about me?” Ken Kaneki did not wait for a response before donning the mask with one arm. A shiver of revulsion ran down her spine at the Frankenstein-esque bolts screwed into the sides, the toothy smile that reminded her of a serial killer and the gleaming black eyepatch that he adjusted with what looked like pure muscle memory. The mask meant nothing to her, but the God of Death recoiled in what seemed to be horror. The skeletal men also appeared to shudder alongside their master. 

“You, it’s you! The insolent mortal who thinks he can cheat death! So you’ve finally decided that being a nuisance wasn’t enough? You now dare to defy the gods?” Hades was a far cry from the regal figure he had been just a few seconds ago. Pale flesh was flushed with red and black fire flickered on several parts of his body, including his sleeve. Understandable, considering the sheer anger one could hear in his voice. The masked man was not as ruffled as his counterpart, gently brushing off the dust that had gathered on him without acknowledging the aura that made the air itself heavy. The sword was doing an incredible(and comedic, considering the situation) job of balancing itself on his shoulder without a hand to hold it in place. The clear dismissal of him made Hades seethe and he drew himself up into his full height(and reminded her of a bird puffing out its feathers to look more intimidating. A singular grey eye flickered lazily to meet his gaze as Kaneki stopped his ministrations. 

“Yeah. It’s me. I’ve broken a lot of my rules today, so...I guess I can make an exception for you.” he held the sword in a two-handed grip in front of him and she felt the smile hidden behind leather. Hades sneered at the nonchalant tone and relaxed slightly. Only to stiffen up when the sword began to look as if it was decaying, starting to suck in light rather than emit red light. It projected a black aura similar to the one that had briefly surrounded the god himself. He backed away slowly, stepping back twice for each one Kaneki took in his direction. The sword flashed like quicksilver, cleaving through shields like paper and bones just as easily. Those that were cut, even as tiny an injury as it was(although the most minor injury was a severed hand) just crumpled like puppets with their strings severed. Now, the feeling Kaneki was giving off was that of sadistic glee. His mask now matched his demeanor. 

“ **Wanna be the first god I kill?** ” Hades took on a look of abject horror, began to glow and forced Annabeth to shield her eyes or be vapourized by his true form. When the light died down, she reopened them. Kaneki had walked to the scorch mark on the ground and removed his mask to reveal a scowl, but his body had winded down from the battle mode it had slipped into. He drove his sword straight into the ground, took off his cloak(he was wearing a black bodysuit underneath that left nothing to the imagination) and sat down to lean against it, a drawn out sigh being the only sound other than the thunder and rain. He closed his eyes and his head immediately dropped to rest against his shoulder. Looking at this scene, instead of being filled with fear at this man who had scared off a god with little to no effort, she only felt a sense of pity. Unconsciously, she approached Kaneki, brain full of questions. It was the mother of Perseus Jackson, who had moved to her side who eventually voiced the thought that was running through her head. Bending down to brush a stray strand of hair from its place in front of an eye, Mrs Jackson whispered, “He’s lonely.” Annabeth squatted down beside her, eyes drinking in every curve and edge of the face of one who had made himself known with the subtlety of a sledgehammer. And for some reason, she felt immensely sad for this man, this killer of monsters who was ready to throw his life away for people he didn’t know. 

“That we can agree on.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed. This is something new I'm trying(or old, if you consider that this is a reboot), so it's always good to get comments. Thank you for reading!


	3. A king without a kingdom is a man without chains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We discuss the issue of one Kaneki Ken and how he has pulverized canon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter, third chapter whoooo. Let’s see how far I can take this daily update schedule. Probably gonna regret it, but I live for these things. Thank you for reading and if you liked it, drop me a review or something. I see everything. Have fun!
> 
> Update: Because of my shitty sleep schedule, it is not a daily update. Booooo.

Let it be known that Percy Jackson was a sharp boy. Despite how often the wrong words came out of his mouth due to his lack of filters, he had a brave heart and was always getting back up even when he was kicked down. The main reason his grades were as abysmal as they were was mostly due to his dyslexia and ADHD, for one could not even hope to begin understanding lessons if even the slightest hint of movement drew one’s attention away from the (admittedly boring) teacher. That and he had gotten tired of getting beaten into the ground, so he kept his head down and attempted to fade into the background. Sometimes he was successful, but his innate ability to draw in the loners, the outsiders and the freaks tended to ruin his plans more often than not. So, he had gotten careful. He had gotten used to watching for signs of danger, for the escape route that no bully would block and how to navigate his way out of a tight spot. For all the sass and spite, Perseus Jackson was still just a child with more than enough smarts to secure him a good life, if he had been normal. So, walking out into the rain(which didn’t affect the weird camp), he watched curiously as his mother, always so cautious and worn out because of what she had to do to make ends meet, tug the hood of the man(Kaneki, or Ken as his mom had called him) over the startling white hair with a look of gentle exasperation on her face that she normally reserved for him, he chose his words carefully before speaking. 

“So when were you going to tell me about your new boyfriend?” Percy mentally slapped himself when the words that came out his mouth were the ones that he had marked in his head as “the worst possible thing to say”. Unsurprisingly, his mother jumped at the sudden sound, shaken from whatever thoughts she was lost in. She spluttered and waved her hands frantically, rambling about nothing in particular(and the blonde girl who had been beside her shot him a dirty look that he pointedly ignored) before she regained her composure. 

“Ken isn’t my boyfriend. He’s a  _ friend _ ,” she heavily emphasized that word, “and he was also responsible for how much better our lives got.” despite the casual nature of the second half of her statement, Percy still felt like he had been punched in the gut. Briefly, his brain rewinded to the day Gabe Ugliano, not-so-affectionately dubbed “Smelly Gabe”(by yours truly) behind his back, had disappeared from their lives. Sally Jackson had been much happier after that, and something he had found odd but had not pointed out was how she had suddenly been able to spend more time with him and afford better items even as a single mother with only one job(plus a side hobby of writing). When he finally asked about it one day, she had mentioned a new employer, one that was generous and had helped her. 

“So he’s the one who’s been paying you? Did you know that he was…” Percy gestured to the heaps of golden dust scattered on the ground and then to the one responsible for it all. Like a force of nature, one that had decided that the best course of action was to fight, he had utterly destroyed the monsters, including Mrs Dodds, who had somehow come back from the dead, with almost contemptuous ease. His mom bit her lip, shaking her head but looking thoughtful. 

“No, I assumed he was a regular mortal. The only reason I stuck with Gabe was because he was so disgustingly mortal that he could mask your demigod nature. That plan was ruined after meeting Ken and I hoped that he was mortal enough that his scent would mask yours even without meeting you. When nothing showed up, I was surprised that it actually worked. Now that I think about it however, he had most likely been killing all the monsters that showed up. I always wondered why he was being so kind to me...maybe it was because he was trying to protect you? He clearly knows about how the world truly works, so perhaps he knew that you were a demigod?” and that was the next big question, wasn’t it? One moment he was suffering through another day of school, next his world was turned on its head and he was dropped into the realm of Greek gods, monsters and everything in between. He had plenty of questions, and the first of them was already on the tip of his tongue when a hand gently rested itself on his shoulder. Turning around, he met the kindly face of Mr Brunner(with a new upgrade from the wheelchair, considering the horse legs). Breathing out the word “centaur” quietly, he watched the semblance of a smile flicker on his former teacher’s face before it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. 

“Perhaps we should take this somewhere else Percy. You must have many questions and the answers to them are long overdue. Follow me. Mrs Jackson, you can come along as well if you want to.” he watched her gaze shift from them to the still sleeping form of one Kaneki Ken and something in his chest stirred uncomfortably at the sight. Noticing her indecision, Mr Brunner smiled wryly. 

“Of course, if you would prefer to watch over Mr Kaneki, I would understand.” Sally Jackson said nothing, before slowly leaning down to check the hood she had tugged onto Kaneki’s head to shield him from the rain and a look of affection mixed with some bitterness crossed her face. Straightening up, she reached out to grasp Percy’s hand, which he accepted gratefully. 

“No, if anything happens, he can take care of himself. This is more important. Let’s go.”

* * *

Chiron led Percy and his mother into what the campers affectionately called The Big House(emphasis on “The”), noticing with no small amount of surprise and concern that Dionysus was nowhere to be found, After searching for a few moments, a piece of paper with the smell of wine wafting from it got his attention from its place on a wall, defying gravity with no clear support holding it up. 

_ Father called a meeting. It most likely has to do with that new kid, Peter Johnson or something. Either that or the little stunt Hades pulled and the guy who scared him off.  _

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Of course. On one hand, it meant that he could converse with the duo who were currently looking around in peace(and without the chance of them being driven mad or turned into dolphins/grapes) but on the other, it meant that the slumbering human just outside Camp Half-Blood was in danger. That is, if he was even a human in the first place. He didn’t try to enter the camp before permission was granted, so there was a chance that he was just an old, experienced demigod. Of course, Chiron would have remembered someone so unique in Camp Half-Blood, even if he had only been around for a short period of time. The other possibilities were that he had somehow managed to survive on his own(with his fighting ability, it wouldn’t be hard, but he doubted that Kaneki had possessed such prowess his entire life) or he wasn’t of Greek origins. The second possibility would open up another can of worms that he wasn’t willing to touch just yet. So, gesturing for the other two people in the room to take a seat, he waited for the first question(and he couldn’t take a seat because he had forgotten his wheelchair). 

Surprisingly, the whole talk didn’t actually take that long. After a few cursory questions about monsters, demigods and the origins of them, Percy had fallen silent, a look in his eyes that spoke of a shrewd intellect hidden carefully. Something that he had noticed about the young man ever since the first day Grover had notified him about a powerful half-blood in the school. For how often he got into trouble and his tendency to lapse into a daze during lessons, occasionally, he would do something that would remind Chiron he wasn’t dealing with a typical teenager. For one so young, he held himself with more confidence than most adults, going about every action with a type of certainty that only came from careful planning and thinking. He smiled bitterly, clenching a fist. If Grover had been correct about the whole thing, Percy would have that faith in himself tested over and over again, and the only thing that would keep him going would be his determination. He hoped against hope that he was wrong about who he guessed was his godly parent, but instincts and experience told him that his predictions would be accurate. He was shaken from his musing by a new question.

“So where does that Kaneki guy fit into this?” Chiron smiled again, this time with some pride, at the excellent question. So it was a shame…

“Unfortunately, I do not know where Mr Kaneki fits into this. This is the first time I have encountered him, although his mask does seem familiar. That will require some research. From the limited information that I have with me, he is a clear-sighted mortal, like your mother who has experience with the Greek world and fighting the monsters that plague us. His weapon is like nothing I’ve ever seen, and I would remember a sword like that. Skeletons are incredibly difficult to kill, considering they tend to reform, like those birthed from dragon teeth, so a weapon that can kill them in a single hit is incredibly valuable and hard to find. The last time I remember a weapon like that being in possession of a demigod was when a son of Ares had a spear that absorbed life energy, but also his stamina. More often than not, powerful weapons have incredible drawbacks. Yet…” he trailed off, abruptly remembering the havoc Kaneki Ken had brought down on the monsters which had dared to fight against him. 

“He didn’t seem to have any adverse effects considering how long he was fighting, then again, the fight was over quick. Apart from the fact that he immediately stopped to take a nap after Hades ran away. Kaneki Ken is an incredibly interesting person.” Percy frowned, fingers twitching for a few moments before shooting a glance at Mrs Jackson. She was oddly quiet despite the situation, having answered only a few questions and added a few supplementary points to Chiron’s explanations earlier. It seemed like her mind was still fixated on the man they were discussing. She didn’t respond to the glance, choosing to look down at her hands, lost in some memory that he couldn’t discern. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Percy released a long, drawn out sigh of annoyance. Interlacing his fingers, he began speaking. 

“Hades is the god of the Underworld, right? Last time I checked, gods were immortal. At the sight of Mr Kaneki’s weapon, he vanished pretty quickly. Does that mean he has a god-killer as a weapon? Has such a thing ever existed?” a cold chill ran down his spine at the point brought up. He quickly ran through his memories, as many of them as they were, and came up short. A pit started to form in his stomach. That would be bad. 

“Gods can’t be killed, but they can fade if people stop believing in them or incapacitated like how Kronus was by the gods. A god-killer has never existed. We’ll just have to hope that Kaneki Ken was just so dangerous that Hades decided the smart thing was to retreat, instead of disappearing because Kaneki could actually kill him. If that was the case, everyone would be hunting him down by now, the gods in fear of being destroyed and other sinister forces, provided they still exist, in order to give them an edge against the gods. For how little we know about him, he’s already set himself up as a major threat to anyone who dares to stand against him.” at this point, Mrs Jackson finally raised her head. Chiron felt a pang of pity at the sheer amount of confusion that he could see in her eyes, understandable, considering how her world had been shaken(considering how she was acquainted with Kaneki, the fact that she was surprised about his ability implied that she had been left in the dark). 

“Ken has never shown any signs of knowing about this world. Although, I’ve always felt that he was a little off in the way he acted. He looks young, but sometimes he acts really old. He runs a cafe called RE, which he stated was a way of remembering a friend, but sometimes he slips up and calls it Anteiku. I met him about a year or two ago when he stopped me from getting…” Mrs Jackson gave her son a look, before grimacing and ekking out the word “raped”. Percy’s eyes immediately narrowed and they darkened alarmingly, hostile intent clear. Chiron couldn’t blame him, he was also feeling the urge to hunt down whoever had dared to do such a thing(and that was another bit to add to the profile of Kaneki in his head). She took a deep breath to steady herself and continued, obviously in pain at remembering what was surely a bad memory. 

“He practically appeared out of thin air, then knocked the guy out with one punch. He was...persuasive and I explained what was going on after he just kept me company for close to an hour. Then he offered me a job, with a surprisingly high pay despite the fact that it was a relatively simple job. At the time, I thought that he was just being kind, excessively kind, considering the stories I got from the other workers and how he had found them in similar situations. Now, it seems like he was just preparing for...this I guess.” Chiron decided that this conversation was just going downhill with every bit of information that was added to it. Which was probably what the enigma given solid form had planned to happen, if even a fraction of what they suspected about him was true. It was probably time to go back and check on him anyway. Percy piped up, with an air of savage glee around him that didn’t belong to a child his age. 

“How about we ask the man himself? I have some questions of my own for him.” his mother and teacher shared a glance over his head, an unspoken agreement passing between them to stop him from doing anything stupid. Abruptly, the smell of wine grew stronger, and with the sound of a cork popping from a bottle, Dionysus reappeared, an oddly serious look on his face. At the questioning looks sent his way, he waved a hand and started speaking in a tone so dry it belonged in a desert.

“Father has decided that the mortal needs to die, because no mortal, or person, or anything really, should have a god-killer with him. Instead of smiting him, which would be the easiest thing to do, he decided to send the Hunters after him. They should be arriving any second now.” before the last word could leave his mouth, the trio were already rushing out the door. He got a single glimpse of a now-awake Kaneki Ken surrounded by the Hunters. He looked unruffled, calmly hefting the sword onto his shoulder before settling into a stance, body lowered and both hands gripping onto his weapon like it was a baseball bat. 

His eyes flicked to check if the black aura that meant “god-killer” mode was on(cause apparently he  _ did _ have a god-killer) and was slightly relieved to see that it wasn’t there. Only slightly because it was one mortal against the equivalent of Olympus’ special forces, but the last time he had faced seemingly impossible odds as one person...bad things happened. He had a brief image of body parts flying in every direction with one swing of the impossible weapon. As Chiron went through a minor mental breakdown, Kaneki’s eyes settled on one Hunter in particular, a small smirk gracing his face. Before he could check who had just become the target of the mortal, Kaneki swung the blade as arrows began their flight towards him. Chiron was immediately more focused on not dying as girls began to fly through the air, somehow propelled by the sheer force of the sword swing that had also cut most of the arrows out of the air. Casually slipping on the leather mask he had used to frighten Hades earlier, he popped a clearly dislocated shoulder back into place and blurred, reappearing just before he entered the forest. Seemingly not noticing the two arrows protruding from his back and the angry goddess on his tail, he gave a two finger salute in Chiron’s general direction. Pausing only to deflect the daggers heading for his face, he executed a textbook roundhouse kick into the midriff of Artemis, staggering her, before vanishing into the forest. Staring at the various positions the Hunters had ended up in(one was even dangling off the roof of The Big House), Percy uttered a single word. 

“Fuck.” 

Mrs Jackson, still watching the chaos with an expression that screamed she was done with the situation, reached out and cuffed his head. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not know if this is on time. My sleep schedule is complete shit and I should probably try to fix it while lockdown is on. Whatever. Here’s a chapter more focused on world-building, the next will definitely be more fighting. I hope you enjoyed. Next chapter in three days, hopefully.


	4. Good men get remembered but legends never die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> FIGHT!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I have been procrastinating in writing this chapter. Do I have an excuse? No. Did I do it anyway? Yes. Anyhow, this will be a more fight-heavy chapter, and it will be more similar to my original version of this, in the sense that it will be Kaneki vs the Hunters. Except, instead of letting him kill everyone, I’m going to make this a little more… interesting. Hopefully. Anyway, I hope you’ll enjoy this!

It had been a long time since her father had ordered her to use the Hunters to actually hunt down a person. However, after the enlightening discussion they had abruptly been called to by Hades, of all people, she couldn’t find it in herself to go against his orders. Somehow, a mortal had gotten hold of a blade that was powerful enough to kill gods. When questioned about how he had come into the knowledge of this, the God of Death looked a little sheepish before he explained how long he had known about their new bane. 

“I do not know his name, for he never gave one. He always hid behind a mask, one that you would recognize from a mile away, if you were to see it. Wherever he went, destruction and chaos followed. I first met him in what was possibly the most explosive way I have ever met a mortal. The ceiling of my throne room collapsed, and he fell face first into the floor, that impossible sword on his back and his clothes clean despite the debris that had fallen along with him. He took one look at me, muttered something about taking a wrong turn before running out the front door. I attempted to track him down using the Furies, only to call them off when they saw him wander into the Fields of Punishment and disappear afterwards. I assumed he had stumbled into something that had ended his life.” Hades paused, lost in some memory unseen to the rest of them, shaken and almost a completely different person from the imposing figure that he portrayed himself as usually, shaking his head before continuing with a grimace. 

“I was wrong. A few hours later, it came to my notice that those imprisoned in the Fields of Punishment were somehow staging a prison break. Everyone had been freed from their respective punishments, with no explanation for how they had been. It took me forever to hunt all of them down, and I have the suspicion that a few still remain in hiding, biding their time until the search for them stops. All signs pointed to the man who had somehow fallen into the Underworld being the one to free them all, the various testimonies we managed to coerce out of the recaptured prisoners confirming that idea. I told my subjects to keep an eye out for him and bring him to me when he was found. That was four years ago. He was a ghost. One day, I received the news that somehow, he had fallen into Tartarus.” he paused to allow the incredulity of the situation to settle in. Artemis’ mind raced with questions, the biggest of them all was  _ how _ the mortal man had managed to survive literal hell? 

“That was when I figured out that he could kill gods. Sons and daughters of Nyx, who had been content to stay in the pit, crawled out of their home to fall on their knees in front of me and beg for my help. They spoke of a masked man with white hair and clothes that never got torn, a monster in human form that wandered the pit. At first, the monsters were content to fight and try to kill him. Then they began to stay away because of how often they died at the hands of the man who never faltered. The worst part was that some monsters never came back from death, even in Tartarus. They stayed how he left them, usually in tiny pieces. As you all already know, time passes differently down there. They spoke of years hiding from the one who had claimed the pit as his own, for when the boldest members of them stepped forward to end the threat before it could truly begin...they died like humans. Screaming, in agony and never coming back. I had hoped that he would stay down in the depths and one day, something or someone would cut him down to size.” Hades chuckled bitterly, spreading his hands and gesturing to nothing in particular. 

“I was wrong.” the Olympians discussed the issue for minutes that felt like hours, the more bloodthirsty ones like Ares(male pig that he was) wanting to fight the man, while the more knowledge hungry ones like Athena wanted to subdue him. In the end, Zeus decided that they needed information. In a move that showed his rarely used intellect, her father had ordered her to take her Hunters and do what they did best.  _ Hunt. _

Showing up at the man’s last known location, they were prepared to have to track their target down and relinquish him of his weapon. Thankfully, and rather conveniently, the male was sleeping peacefully in the middle of what seemed to have been a battlefield, considering the sheer amount of monster dust on the ground surrounding him. He was sleeping in a sitting position, leaning against the sword that Hades claimed could bring down gods. The sword was unsettling, at the very least. It looked organic and pulsed a soft red, almost impossible to see in broad daylight, but the stormy weather(kudos to her father and uncle being tantrum throwing adult babies) and her own enhanced eyesight and instincts allowed her to clearly see the unnerving glow. It made the sword feel alive. Quietly, her most experienced Hunters fanned out in a circle around the prone male, fitting arrow to bow and locking on to their target. A few seconds after they had completed their formation, the man’s eyes opened and he jerked back, head colliding with its resting surface. The only sign that he was not expecting their arrival was the slight widening of his eyes when he noticed the situation he was in. Standing up slowly, he pulled his sword out of the ground, holding it in both hands like he was preparing for a single powerful swing. Internally, Artemis snorted at the gesture, wondering if the stories Hades had told them were true. She raised a hand to signal her Hunters to fire, pausing only when the male’s eyes, which had been lazily looking around, homed in on one of her girls. He smirked and suddenly the air around him  _ changed _ . 

He had been oddly intimidating before. Now, he radiated an aura that was essentially just power given form. She quickly checked to see which Hunter he had been looking at, pausing for a fraction of a second to do so, but that fraction of time, insignificant to mere mortals, was more than enough for him to make his move. As arrows whistled through the air, he swung. The sword cut through the arrows in its way, somehow cutting through the very air itself afterwards. She watched with no small amount of shock and awe when the air rippled, blasting back her Hunters with the sheer force alone. She was almost swept up with the flow as well, only managing to prevent herself from flying through the air like some of her more unfortunate girls by anchoring herself to the ground with a hunting knife. The mortal(?) man pushed an obviously dislocated shoulder back into place with the only reaction being a grin and a slight shudder as he forced the bone back into its proper position. Slipping on a mask(clearly the one Hades had talked about, it was...odd at the very least) with a toothy grin, he moved much faster than a mortal man could have hoped to move. To regular humans or the untrained eye, he would have become a blur of motion. TO her own, she followed his every move with some effort, drawing her bow to put an arrow in his back, which was quickly followed by a second, courtesy of Zoe, who had been able to survive the blastwave with minor hindrance herself. The projectiles sprouting from his body did nothing to stop his motion, the man kicking off the surface of the ground so hard that he left cracks and holes in the ground. Growling, she ran after him with both hunting knives drawn, managing to catch up when he reached the edge of the forest in Camp Half-Blood. Before her weapons could sink into his flesh, he turned around abruptly and kicked her in the stomach. It felt like she was being hit with a sledgehammer built by Hephaestus. She gagged and stopped long enough for the man to shoot her an almost mocking look that made her blood boil with rage. She leapt after him, hunting instincts singing out for her to show him who was truly the one who was better here. They dueled while running, a single sword against two hunting knives. Despite the fact that she should have had the upper hand considering it was two weapons against one, the man’s reflexes were astounding, parrying her blades rather than attempting to block them. Sometimes, a parry would be done with a sudden amount of force that would give him a brief moment to sneak a punch or kick in. With each hit was another blow to her pride, but she remained calm and continued her onslaught, knowing that he would slip up eventually(all things considered, it was a wonder he had managed to survive so long as he was more of hopping from one point to the next, boosting himself off trees to get the slightest headstart over her) and was rewarded a few minutes later. 

When he had attempted to kick off another tree to gain another few precious inches of distance, between the two of them, his foot dug a hole into the brittle root. Cursing at the whiplash, the man tripped and tumbled, leg wrenched out of the tree by his sheer momentum alone. Artemis pounced as he faltered, a knife driving through his hand and into the ground while the other cut his Achilles tendons to prevent him from moving. Crying out, the first real reaction she had seen from him in the short time that they had been acquainted, he rolled over to meet her gaze. She drew two fresh knives and pinned him down, pressing her foot against his chest with more than enough godly strength to make him wheeze and she could hear his ribs creaking at the pressure. Despite all that, he still clung on to his sword, lashing out even though his position was terrible and the swings were easily batted away. Growing tired of his antics, she cut off the hand holding the sword and tossed it to one side, ignoring the gouts of blood that spurted from the wound. A single silver eye met her own, and she was startled by how similar it was in colour to hers. She pressed a knife to his neck and smiled when he stopped his struggles almost immediately, uncovered eye flicking to the tiny thing that could kill him with a single flick and back to her face. A beat of silence passed before he spoke, casual considering the severity of the situation he had managed to land himself in. 

“This was not how I envisioned my day to end.”

“What way did you think it would end,  _ boy _ ? You thought that you could challenge the gods and get away with it?”

“I wasn’t challenging the gods little girl. I was keeping the promise I made.” she twisted the knife in his hand at the jab and he groaned, flesh and bone giving way before the godly metal. When she was satisfied that he understood his place, she started questioning him, waiting for her Hunters to catch up(she would have to train them in recovering from bad situations, it would be more than bad if someone else were to pull a similar trick and kill some of them instead of just running away. 

“What do you mean that you were keeping the promise that you made?” he laughed at the question, wincing even as he did so. 

“I promised a lady that I would protect her from anyone who attempted to harm her. Had to break a lot of rules to help her today, including the ones about not interfering with this world.” she pondered the answer, wondering how insane this man was, to challenge beings that had been around before the thought of him even existed, all in order to protect a woman. Even still, she acknowledged his bravery and dedication. 

“Who are you? Where did you get that blade?”

“I’ve gone by many names. People call me Kaneki, only one person I know calls me Ken. Hades has a very unflattering name for me that is incredibly accurate and I need to ask him how he knows that name one day. All things considered, it was nice to meet you Artemis-san. I’ve always wondered what the gods were like in real life. You’ve exceeded my expectations by a mile and a half.” she preened slightly at the compliment, mentally putting his name down as Ken Kaneki(logic dictated that most people would call him by his surname, and the one person that called him otherwise was probably the person he fought to protect). A sense of suspicion overcame her when she realized a discrepancy in his words earlier. 

“How do you know my name. And why were you smiling at my Lieutenant?” if it was possible for someone to smile from ear to ear, Kaneki would be doing so. His eyes quickly flicked to a spot behind her, before someone else replied for him. 

“The answer to both questions is the same milady.” she turned around to meet an arrow aimed directly at her chest. The Lieutenant of the Hunt, Zoe Nightshade, her longest companion, a sister in all but blood had the unholy sword bound to her hip and a bow drawn back, ready to fire. Her mind briefly froze at the act of betrayal before she reacted to the threat. A knife knocked the bow, making it face skywards and making the act of severing the bowstring with her second knife a much easier task. Before she could confront her Lieutenant, the man lying beneath her suddenly arched his back, throwing off her balance and ripping his hand from the ground while doing so. She met the punch with her knife, eyes widening in shock when the second fist collided with her jaw, no sign of the bloodied stump that had been Kaneki’s left hand apart from the slight red tinge to his sleeve. She reeled back, foot shifting off his chest. He moved like a dancer, slipping out from underneath her to grab her head and bring her into a headbutt that left her ears ringing and caused her vision to go blurry. Driving the knife into his ribs, she was satisfied to hear the retching noise he made, but not so much when he spat blood into her eyes and further obscured her vision. Leaving the knife in him and drawing two more, she kicked him away and turned around to deal with her Lieutenant for Zoe to slash her with the sword. It wasn’t a deep cut, more of a grave than anything, but the strength was sapped from her limbs in an instant and she suddenly struggled to draw breath as her attacker watched with a trace of guilt in her eyes. Collapsing when her knees gave out under her, she watched her Lieutenant throw the sword back to its owner, who was removing the knife from his ribs very slowly. Artemis watched, mouth agape, when Zoe rolled her eyes and walked over to rip the knife out in one quick motion, smacking the taller male in the head when he started griping about it. The duo turned their attention onto her, Kaneki removing his mask and slinging the blade over his shoulder while Zoe knelt down to check the wound, flinching when Artemis slapped at the offending limb. 

“Zoe, why?”

“Sorry milady, but I could not let you capture him. While his capture was because of his own stupidity,” Zoe leaned over to smack the head of the giggling bastard, “Zeus would kill him and I cannot stand for that.”

“So you betrayed your mistress and the Hunt?” Zoe’s eyes hardened at the accusation, a hand curling into a fist. She gradually relaxed when Kaneki placed a hand on her shoulder(and Artemis felt a mixture of betrayal and fury at how comfortable her oldest partner seemed to be with a  _ man’s  _ touch) and spoke in a tone of absolute conviction. 

“Know this milady, I would never betray you. One day, you will understand why I have done the things I have done today. Until then, you will just have to trust me when I say that I am doing this for the greater good.” a sharp whistle cut through the air and the duo took their attention off her, tensing up and looking in the general direction of the sound. Kaneki glanced back at the prone goddess, something akin to pity in his gaze. 

“We need to go. The Hunt will be here soon and I would rather not fight them unless I have to.” 

“Don’t worry Artemis-san, Nightshade here will kill me if I harm even a single hair on the rest of your Hunt.”

“We need to go. Now.” 

“Fine, fine. Bye!” the duo quickly disappeared, leaving her to wonder how her world had fallen apart so quickly.


	5. You want a battle? Here's a war.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am making this up as I go along. Gotta say, it's pretty fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this out a little earlier so I can get it up in time. It’s pretty satisfying, being productive. Plus, less sleep equals less time alone with the things in my head. That came out wrong. Ignore that. Anyhow, the aftermath of Kaneki and Zoe’s dispatching of a goddess, in which the Hunt fights two people. Have fun!

Artemis was lying on the cold dirt ground for a long time. Around her, she could hear the sounds of her Hunters calling out for their mistress, punctuated by sudden screams and eerie silence afterwards. She cursed her own inability to move, energy sapped by the god-killer that had been turned on her by one she had thought was her friend, even a sister. Still, she knew(much to her irritation) that she had gotten off lightly, for she could already feel her energy returning, albeit really slowly. Something that could have happened if she had been engaged in one on one combat with Kaneki Ken alone, still wielding his cursed blade, she probably would have been killed rather that left unceremoniously in a field, listening to the sounds of quick battles around her with no chance of helping those that were essentially her children. One of her younger Hunters had stumbled onto her body while running away from something(or someone), cried out in alarm and rushed to help her up, only for something akin to red strings to snag her and pull her into the darkness, too fast for her to even cry out for help. As the sounds of her girls grew softer with each minute, she wondered what the duo would do to her after they had defeated everyone who had been sent to hunt the mortal man. Perhaps they would come back to finish the job. Zoe Nightshade, the Lieutenant of the Hunt, who had been with her through countless hardships and times of trouble, had turned her back on the goddess who had taken her in when she had been cast aside, forgotten and the girls that she had fought with for centuries on end. For a single mortal man, who had never showed up on the radar of the gods and goddesses until he had stepped from the shadows in order to protect the newly discovered son of Poseidon, his mother and afterwards, Camp Half-Blood. Who was willing to fight a god with nothing but a sword. Of course, now she knew better. 

Kaneki Ken. Looked like he was in his mid-twenties, and without a single drop of godly blood in his veins. A mortal man, according to all their knowledge, one that had somehow found his way into the Underworld, and then into Tartarus, where he apparently spent his days becoming the bane of monsters and gods alike, wandering the pit and killing everything that stood in his way. On hindsight, that knowledge alone should have warned her that the man was not to be taken lightly or trifled with, but appearances were deceiving. It was hard to be afraid or wary of a man who was sleeping with his apparent god-killer as a backrest. Of course, said person was lying amongst a huge amount of monster dust, so that probably should have been enough to warn her. Fighting him and cutting off his hand after disarming him should have been enough to stop him. Unfortunately, this mortal somehow grew a new hand, or reattached it considering she didn’t see the severed hand despite the fact that it should have landed somewhere near where she had collapsed. So now they had a man toting a sword that could kill gods and regenerate severed limbs. She was starting to wonder whether or not he was some monster which had disguised itself as a human. Then again, she couldn’t think of a monster which had the intelligence to pretend to be a human, managed to find a powerful sword and a regenerative ability strong enough to regrow a severed hand. She attempted to see if she had enough energy to unleash her divine form in order to warn the other gods. She didn’t. However, she finally had enough energy to get up from her position on the ground, which she did, and staggered around, hoping that she wouldn’t come across a corpse. Slowly gaining energy as she walked, Artemis surveyed the damage done to the forest.

From time to time, she would see signs of a scuffle. A broken bow, or a hunting knife just lying discarded on the floor. Three or four arrows peppering a tree, or perhaps a broken one with the slightest hint of blood on it. She could see that Kaneki had gone to town, there were many trees that had gotten a new makeover courtesy of a sword, some had even collapsed due to the lack of stability a tree has when a blade cuts through almost all of its base. There were no signs of Zoe however, which she didn’t know how to feel about(it could be a good thing if it meant she wasn’t participating in the subduing of her fellow Hunters, or it could be a bad thing because she was helping, there just weren’t signs of it). Stepping over a tripwire made from that odd red string, she hesitated before returning to it. Gently, she drew a hunting knife and tapped it lightly, releasing the weapon afterwards and leaping back to what she hoped was a safe distance. Just in time, considering what happened afterwards. The string snapped in two and suddenly more shot from the ground and the surroundings, silent and terrifying(she watched one punch through a tree like it was paper), wrapping around the weapon she had dropped and trapping it in a glowing red cocoon. She shivered, imagining that happening to one of her Hunters. She wondered how she hadn’t seen any of her girls or the duo that were hunting them, considering traps like this one were probably littering the forest floor. Eyes widening as soft footsteps echoed behind her despite the dirt muffling the sound, she turned around and drew her bow, immediately nocking an arrow. She was correct in assuming that it was an enemy, the man of the hour had decided to grace her with his presence. She quickly checked for the sword, only to find it absent, replaced by a metal briefcase that seemed too plain for something he would lug around for fun. Artemis guessed that the sword was stored in said briefcase and immediately released an arrow. To her annoyance, the arrow bounced off the briefcase like it had been made of rubber instead of enchanted silver, not making a single dent in the new accessory. Kaneki smiled, sensing her irritation. Gently setting down the briefcase, he cracked a knuckle, pushing it down with his thumb and creating a sickening sound that was more akin to a bone snapping. Rotating his neck and removing the cloak that he had been wearing since she had first met him(it revealed a skin tight black bodysuit which looked incredibly fragile, but appearances were deceiving). They stood at a standstill, Artemis hesitating to trigger a fight while remembering how Zoe had essentially stabbed her in the back while the mortal man served as a distraction, discreetly scanning her surroundings for flickers of movement and the glint of metal, only to find nothing. Kaneki noticed her gaze and grinned, spreading his arms in a gesture that oozed confidence. 

“Zoe isn’t here, I told her to check the rest of the traps and make sure your precious Hunt was unharmed. If it were up to me alone, I would probably have killed them all, and you as well, just to send Olympus a message for trying to put me out of commission. But, since you all matter so much to her, Artemis-san, I have been merciful. Don’t worry about your girls, they’re fine. Relatively. The only things that they might have to complain about would be bruises and maybe the occasional sprained wrist if they put up a good fight.” the polite, humourous persona that he had used in their first and second meeting was gone, replaced by an almost arrogant air that surrounded him and callous words that dripped with poison. She fought the urge to fight him, judging from the glint in his eyes, he was just trying to make sure that she wouldn’t be in the right state of mind(that is, not blinded by rage) if she did try to fight. When she didn’t reply to his taunt, a disappointed frown crossed his face for a few moments before he settled into a fighting stance, a sardonic grin back in place almost immediately. 

“How about a wager? Fight me. Any weapons allowed, minus my own. I’ll fight you with my fists. If you win, I’ll tell Zoe to release the Hunt, come along with you and surrender my sword to King Thunderbritches himself. Hopefully, he won’t get drunk off the power of having a sword that can kill gods and decide that it would be the perfect time to off his brothers.” Artemis hesitated, running through the offer in her head and attempting to find a loophole in his words, but could only find insults to her father’s ego and power complex. Despite the situation, she snickered at the deadpan way he had delivered the statements. Kaneki folded his arms over his chest and sighed at the continued silence. 

“What was that thing you Greeks did...oh I remember now. I swear on the River Styx that I will honour my promise.” thunder rumbled, signifying the binding of the oath. For a moment, she gaped at the sheer audacity of the male, mind whirring at a thousand miles a minute. It was one thing to offer one’s most prized possession up, along with one’s life in a single fight against a goddess, especially without the god-killer or a partner that had been responsible for taking her down earlier(the cut on her chest, already healed, throbbed gently despite the lack of an injury). It was another to bind that promise to an oath on the River Styx, which meant that his soul would be forfeit if he chose to break the oath, out of cowardice or anything else. Now that he was bound to fight her with consequences if he lost, she couldn’t resist accepting the wager. Nodding instead of responding verbally, she drew back another arrow and aimed for his head. Rather than prepare for a battle, Kaneki looked as if he was getting ready for a performance, tugging at his sleeves and finally settled in a typical soldier’s relaxed position, legs apart and hands crossed behind his back. He looked unruffled despite the arrow pointed straight at his cranium. 

“If I win, you leave Zoe and I alone. I don’t really care what you can do to me, but you’ve had an awful habit of punishing Hunters that have supposedly ‘betrayed’ you, and I would be less than pleased if that happened to her.” despite the calm, almost conversational tone that he had adopted, she could see how his stance had tightened, feeling slightly unnerved at the blankness in those silver eyes as they blazed without emotion, like a forest fire. Unconsciously, her grip on the bow tightened as instincts that only awoke during the hardest of fights stirred and whispered for her to be wary. Trying to quell the sudden burst of anxiety that had welled up in her, she replicated his arrogant smile and for the first time, spoke. 

“The only reason you won the first time was because you had Zoe to save you, boy. She isn’t here now, do you really think you can beat the goddess that oh-so-easily beat you the first time? I’d like to see you try.” her taunt did nothing but up the fire in his eyes from a forest fire to an inferno, reminding her of one of Hephaestus’ forges, fire that wasn’t controlled, but harnessed like a rabid dog held back by a chain. He gently shifted his hands to his sides, then pulled them up in a tight boxing stance. 

“The only reason I lost the first time was because I didn’t want to hurt anyone else. With the Hunters out of commission and Zoe off taking care of them, I can finally let loose. Before we start, I just want to tell you what I’m fighting for. What I have to lose.” he paused, tilting a head in a gesture to make himself look thoughtful. The next words that came out of his mouth were bitter and spoken like they came from a veteran. 

“I have nothing to lose here. No one needs me and I shouldn’t even exist. The world is better off without me. So I will fight till I die because the only fate for beasts like me is to curse the heavens until they bleed out. I hope you’re ready,” Kaneki Ken looked her straight in the eyes, and one of those mesmerizing pools of mercury darkened to black with red veins, “because I will not stop until I win.” startled by the sudden colour change of one of his eyes, she hesitated before shooting the arrow. Kaneki ran straight at her, Artemis’ brief pause allowing the projectile to skim and draw a line across his cheek that stitched itself back together before her eyes. Not wasting another moment to analyse his regeneration, she aimed and fired again and again and again until he reached a two meter distance away from her. By then, she had fired close to twenty arrows, aiming for various places just to throw off his momentum, which was largely unsuccessful. He batted the majority of them away, taking one through the chest while another pierced through his shoulder. Unflinching, he ripped out both arrows, the material of his clothes displaying similar properties to him and sealing the holes from the entry wound(she would think that the exit wounds would also have vanished). Ripping just the arrowheads from the projectiles, he threw both of them like they were throwing knives(then again, he was Japanese, so that would be shuriken?), both whirled through the air and she deflected them with her own hunting knives just as Kaneki Ken crashed into her with the force of a tsunami. She cursed when both of her weapons snapped under the first punch to her chest, moving away before the fist could collide with her chest. Ducking to avoid the axe kick delivered afterwards and rolling out of the way(stabbing a knife into his leg as she did so), she winced as the ground shuddered from the force of his foot, a dirt cloud flying into the air. Not one to waste time, she capitalized on the fact that there was a knife in his leg by jumping to her feet and dashing past the inhuman(because there was no way this monster was a mere mortal man) and leaving several lacerations across the side she had brushed past. Watching them seal up like the previous wounds, her eyes narrowed. She was at a disadvantage, for one hit from Kaneki would probably stun her long enough for something like that axe kick(she dodged another kick to the chest and it tore into the tree behind her as she stabbed another knife into the offending limb) to put her down. And with his regeneration ability(she quickly fired an arrow before following up with an arcing diagonal slice which she had to stop when he ripped out the knife and used it to break the blade of hers), she would need to wear him down so that she could actually do some damage. However, a voice in her head despaired, ignoring her determination, his regenerative ability must be strong enough to heal a severed hand and who knows what else. Not letting up on her assault even as Kaneki plunged a hand into his side to remove the remnants of the blade embedded in it, she shot even more arrows, hand blurring as she amped up her speed. His eyes widened before he dropped to the floor and punched it, throwing up clumps of dirt that blocked her vision of him. 

As the fine dirt acted as a smokescreen, the larger clumps obscured her vision even further, which left her unprepared for the tree that shot towards her as the dust settled. She grimaced and moved out of the way of the improvised projectile, getting a palm strike to the face(her nose crunched under the force) when Kaneki, who had ridden the tree trunk surprised her as he flew past along with his ride. He hopped off, rolling into a standing position as the weapon smashed into another tree and caused several to topple(she briefly contemplated why the dryads didn’t seem to be alarmed at their homes being destroyed). He sprang towards Artemis like a demented spring, a feral grin stretching across his face as he flipped in midair and collided with her feet first. She felt her ribs protest at the impact as the force of the twin impacts propelled her through the air. Artemis barely got any time to recover, forced to sink another knife into the flesh of her opponent even as she was still airborne because he dashed to catch up and had sent another punch towards her. Not even faltering for a split second, Kaneki’s fist continued despite the knife in it, burying itself in her stomach. She gagged, the punch sending her into yet another tree, her head smashing against it as the rest of her body followed suit. Before she could gain her bearings, a kick pinned her to the tree like a butterfly pinned to a wall, applying enough pressure to keep her there even as the tree protested at the force. Artemis struggled futilely, stabbing the appendage that was cutting off her air supply repeatedly even as more pressure was applied to her neck. Kaneki looked on impassively as her vision swam and darkened. Withdrawing his foot just in time to give her some much needed air, he curb stomped her head into the ground. Feeling more bones crack, she stopped struggling as a surge of nausea overwhelmed her. Once again, her limbs were powerless and limp as Kaneki Ken turned her over to allow her to see the way his eyes had returned to silver, then to a dull grey as his breathing smoothened out. Drawing a fist backwards, he smiled. 

“Lights out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter that was basically a fight. I hope I did justice to the story. Anyway, I do hope that you enjoyed it. Leave a review or something. See ya.


	6. We don't need another hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some talking, nothing really happens actually. A moment of peace. The calm before the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Productivity! Whoo! The story is progressing pretty much the same way as the previous one, but with some new stuff added in. Honestly, I feel a lot better reading this version. Makes Kaneki slightly less OP and not so much of a grim reaper. Anyway, I’m going to finally reboot my other story! That’ll come out tomorrow(hopefully). Time to see if I can juggle the storylines of four stories all at once. Anyway, let’s begin. 

Zoe Nightshade at Kaneki Ken, a silent question hanging in the air as she took in the spectacle she had found him in. Her idiot of a friend was standing over her goddess, fist cocked back in a punch. He had been about to bring it down when she coughed loudly, attracting his attention. Noting that he had been in a battle ready postion(not hard to see, considering his body tensed up like he was expecting a hit), she relaxed as he gradually unwound and calmed down, the slate grey of his eyes as unsettling as ever. She folded her arms over her chest and gave him an expecting look. An awkward silence filled the air for a couple of seconds before he dropped the fist with a sigh and stepped away from the broken body of her goddess(and she fought the guilt that threatened to surface), refusing to meet her eyes. She quickly moved forward to check on her, a scowl quickly forming on her face as she watched Artemis stare back at her blearily, golden blood dripping from her face. She whipped her head back just in time to see Kaneki attempt to sneak off, briefcase in hand. He dropped it(and she ignored the small crater it formed upon impact) and raised his hands in surrender, but didn’t move. 

“Is this why you told me to go check on the other Hunters?” Kaneki shuffled his feet, the cold-hearted killing machine vanishing, replaced by a man with eyes that betrayed his true age as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly. 

“You didn’t exactly cut Artemis-san that much, so I thought that I would get her out of the picture before she decided to invoke holy wrath on us. Was not expecting her to agree to fight me, so I had to do a few things that I would have regretted if she was the one that had won.” Zoe resisted a groan, cursory check of her lady completed(she didn’t exactly have the power to heal, so she would just have to hope Artemis’ godly blood was enough) and ran a hand down her face in exasperation before freezing and shooting him a glare that promised pain. 

“What. Did. You. Do.” it wasn’t even a question. She knew that the numbskull had definitely done something stupid. It was just in his (very mortal, all things considered)blood. She briefly wondered why she hadn’t put an arrow through his skull the first time they met, before remembering what conditions they had met under and resolved to shoot one at him when they were out of danger, even if it wouldn’t hurt him for long. He gave her an apologetic smile that only made her glare intensify. He shifted uncomfortably under the force of it before cracking and muttering something that her enhanced senses could barely pick up. 

“Are you going to repeat that loud enough for me to hear, or do I need to go get our mutual friend to give you another day long lecture?” she emphasized the “mutual friend” portion, knowing that Artemis was still conscious, a miracle considering she almost had her nose driven back into her brain(and from the looks of it, had been hit by a tree) and not wanting to ruin the secrecy that had already begun to unravel ever since Kaneki had decided that fighting the gods for his friend was a good idea(although she was pleased to see that he hadn’t changed, even after what he had been through), although it was only a matter of time before the web that he had so painstakenly spun was finally noticed. However, a little more time and the web would have served its purpose well enough. A shame really, considering how much time and effort had been put into it. Kaneki flinched and gasped dramatically, waving his hands and muttering something along the lines of “anything but that”. 

“I may have offered my sword and my life and whenshedidn’tbelievemeIsworeontheRiverStyx?” he started off hesitantly and ended his answer like it was a question, practically tripping over his words near the end. Pausing to absorb the information, her hands twitched for the bow on her back and Kaneki immediately scrambled up into the nearest tree that he hadn’t destroyed yet, disappearing into the foilage. Not surprised, she still drew her bow and fired the arrow she most commonly used when he was being an unbelievably stupid fellow. Just before it reached the tree he was hiding in, it exploded into a net, complete with weights to prevent the target from shrugging it off. Making a sound that would have made more sense coming from an animal than from a human, the white-haired male fell out of the tree, wrapped in the steel fibers and landed face first. She repressed a chuckle and looked back to check on her goddess again, noting with some relief that her eyes had regained their focus, zeroing in on the things going on while she lay propped up against a tree. Judging from the trembling of one of her hands, Artemis wasn’t exactly mobile yet. She emitted a long, drawn-out sigh as Kaneki managed to wriggle his way out of the net and quickly reappeared next to her, staring into her goddess’ eyes. Zoe swatted him across the head for freaking Artemis out(drawing a whine), brushing her clothes as she stood up. Unsurprisingly, her friend shadowed her, the expression on his face a mixture of a smile and a grimace as lightning flashed and thunder roared. 

“Should we leave her here? Good old King of the Massive Ego might locate us soon and I do not want to experience getting struck by lightning again. It was not fun the first time, or the subsequent four other times and I am not looking forward to the next time I get struck by lightning.” she rolled her eyes aat the complaint, but didn’t protest. Kaneki had a knack for getting electrocuted, whether intentional or otherwise. Hesitantly, she shook her head. 

“The Hunt may have been subdued, but milady only brought the best of them. As much as I hate to do it, we should bring her along so that Olympus cannot send them after us again. Plus, she would be useful as a,” she struggled to spit the words that tasted like ash on her tongue, “bargaining chip, in case something bad happens.” Kaneki gave her a sympathetic smile, patting her twice on the shoulder before lifting the goddess up in a bridal carry. At the equally judging looks on the two females’ faces, he defended himself. 

“This way, if she does recover on the way back, I won’t get stabbed in the spinal column.”

“And you always wanted to cross ‘carrying a goddess in a bridal carry’ off your bucket list.”

“That too.” he dodged the hand heading for his face with a laugh, then yelped when the goddess in his arms managed to raise one of hers long enough to give him a slap, eyes burning with fury. He chuckled at the look before starting to sprint, quickly followed by Zoe, who watched their rear despite the fact that there was no one to come after them. Soon enough, the trio melted into the shadows, the only traces of them having been there was the various groups of groaning Hunters tied up, the destroyed section of the forest and a briefcase sitting innocently in the grass, one that slowly became see-through and vanished just like it’s owner had done a couple of minutes ago.

* * *

Artemis would deny the claim that she, of all people, had shrieked when Kaneki Ken began to melt and blend into the shadows. Much to her horror, she herself was also doing the same, with Zoe clinging on to his sleeve, seemingly unfazed that her body was turning to liquid. After the rather uncomfortable sensation of turning to liquid, she fell into the darkness. Suddenly, all she could see and hear was nothing. Darkness met her gaze. The silence was deafening to her ears. When she tried to talk, to do anything to stop the gods-forsaken torture that was sensory deprivation, nothing escaped her mouth. She screamed for what was almost an eternity, yet at the same time a mere fraction of a moment, before the shadows that had so happily swallowed her spat her back out again. Her limbs were dead weight and her brain was still reeling from the multiple blows her opponent had dealt to it, so she chose the smart thing to do and rested her head on the cool ground while taking in the surroundings. 

She had been deposited in a clearing not so different from the one she had fought(and lost) in against Kaneki Ken earlier. It was quiet, except for the gentle babbling of a stream nearby and the rustle of the leaves of the trees around them as the wind blew through the air. She wondered why she had been brought here, before remembering with an unpleasant feeling in her gut that Zoe had convinced her partner in crime to drag her goddess here, unconcerned about the possible repercussions and even daring to suggest the usage of Artemis as a bargaining chip against Olympus. Despite everything that Zoe had said and done, how she had fought alongside her for as long as she could remember, the goddess could feel her faith in her once beloved Lieutenant begin to waver.  _ After all,  _ she thought with more than a slight tinge of bitterness,  _ if their bond could be so easily discarded to aid a male, of all people, it wasn’t much of a bond at all _ . It was because of the multitude of thoughts like that running through her head that caused her to jerk away when Zoe attempted to touch her and feeling particularly vindicative, she rolled onto her side and ignored the quiet apologies coming from her once trusted friend. A few moments of silence passed before Zoe sighed and got up, padding over to where Kaneki was sitting and taking a seat beside him. The duo exchanged words too quietly for her to hear, even with her enhanced senses and Artemis suppressed a growl when the male draped an arm over Zoe’s shoulders and pulled her into a semi-embrace. Much to her continued surprise, her Lieutenant did not displyay a single fraction of the hatred she held for the opposite gender, instead choosing to laugh and lean into the hug. She pushed down the unpleasant feelings brewing in her chest and bid her time. It was very likely that she would need to escape, if not to kill the insolent male that had managed to brainwash her beloved Hunter, then to warn Olympus and convince her father to just rain down lightning on this cursed mortal, divine rules be damned. Artemis felt her strength coming back, coursing through her veins and giving her the energy to be able to slowly summon a hunting knife, concealed by the way her body was positioned and a hand. When Kaneki had untangled himself from Zoe and walked over to her with the intention of checking her injuries, Artemis sprang to her feet and drove the dagger into his midsection, dragging it with almost sadistic glee lengthwise and watching his guts spill onto the floor. Ignoring the sudden exclamation of suprise and how her former Lieutenant had turned around, not getting up despite the commotion, she stabbed him again and again and again, until her target began to resemble swiss cheese. Standing up in satisfaction and wiping the blood off her face, she turned to interrogate her Hunter before Kaneki sat up with a groan. As she watched, the gouges and tears in his flesh stitched themselves back together. Soon enough, any trace of the damage she had so quickly done to him was absent and the only sign that it had ever happened was the annoyed look her captor gave her as he got to his feet. 

“Well that was rude.” she weighed the pros and cons of leaping at him again before deciding it didn’t matter if she got to teach the irritating boy his place and pounced. Unfortunately, the same red strings that had served as a trap and alerted their master to the goddess in the first place shot up in vertical lines from the ground, forming a wall that enveloped and began to bind her. She winced as they cut into her skin, confused at how they seemed to pulse in time with Kaneki’s heartbeat. Struggling only served to make her bindings tighter, so she heaved a sigh of resignation and dropped the bloody knife, which was gingerly picked up and tossed to one side. She then got to experience the uncomfortable feeling of someone tapping her in the forehead. 

“You know, for a goddess, you aren’t exactly bright. And you’re supposed to be one of the better ones Artemis-san.” he gasped in mock horror, with an expression so fake that it was more obvious than whether certain women had gotten plastic surgury. Growling again, she wished that she could just reach out slightly, just an inch, just to bite his nose off and see if he could still smile after that. 

“Untie me and I’ll show you how  _ bright  _ I am when I ram my foot up your…” the rest of the sentence was cut off when the last of the red strings formed a makeshift gag to stop her from speaking. She fought the urge not to throw up, for they tasted like blood and disease-riddeen food items. Crying out sligtly when the strings seemed to tighten around her even further, she resumed her struggles, refusing to meet Zoe’s eyes(hard, considering how her eyes were darting back and forth like she had been watching a particularly interesting match of table tennis). Kaneki gently rapped on her skull and she added another reason to the “book of why she should kill the mortal” that she had generated in her head ever since he had gone from mysterious to plain annoying. What made him grate on her nerves even more was how powerful he was, so much impossible strength and speed and regeneration hidden inside the fragile body of a human. 

“Now now, let’s not be hasty. There was a reason for me bringing you here after all. Well, many reasons. But the ghist of it is that I want you to form an alliance with us.” Kaneki gestured first to Zoe, than to the surroundings for some reason and finally to himself. She snorted dismissively, drawing a disappointed frown from the man in front of her. 

“Even if I wanted to, why would I form an alliance with you, of all people? You’re dangerous, a threat to the peace that we gods and goddesses have managed to keep ever since World War II. You broke every rule in the book, and then some. Anyone who’s associated with you will be lucky to escape the fallout that’s going to happen the moment you slip up and get captured. That drew a chuckle out of the man she was conversing with. 

“Fair points, good points even. But isn’t this more fun? For once, you ‘higher beings’ aren’t the ones in control. I am. And maybe someday I will get caught. But that day is not today and the person who finally captures me will not be you. I’ve been running my whole life. What’s a couple more years. As for why I wanted an alliance,” he paused, exchanging glances with Zoe(who had been oddly silent throughout the exchange) before continuing, “is because something big is coming. A series of unfortunate events. And despite the fact that I shouldn’t have, I interfered. That was more than enough to upset the chain. Now we just have to pray that the effects of my meddling aren’t going to be too strong. I need help. I can’t just solve every problem with a punch or a weapon. I need allies and you seem like an excellent one.” at the look of confusion on Artemis’ face, he laughed again(she scowled. Did he ever stop laughing?). Snapping his fingers, the strings receded till they were just bindings around her wrists and ankles. She glared at him challengingly, daring him to try to do anything to her. Zoe had finally got up, walking over with concern in her eyes. Kaneki waved a hand at her and she relaxed. He sat down in front of her, pulling a thermos and opening it to take a small sip before offering it to first Zoe, then her. Her former Lieutenant quickly snatched the bottle from him and took several long gulps, before handing it to her with an explanation.

“It’s coffee. Kaneki makes the best coffee. I believe people have died trying to get the recipe out of him.” she sniffed the thermos suspiciously before sipping the liquid, having sensed nothing wrong with it. Her taste buds burst with flavour and she proceeded to take an even longer drink from the canteen before Kaneki snatched it from her hands, disgruntled and muttering something about how people love stealing his coffee from him. She rolled her eyes at the statement as he capped the thermos and placed it beside him. 

“I’m not sure how to convince you, but the easiest way to convince someone to be allies with you is to get to know them. I know plenty about you...so I guess it’s fair that you start learning about me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s a wrap. Sorry about the (kind of)cliffhanger. My hands hurt from how much typing I’ve been doing today, cause I had a group project earlier that I basically had to solo carry. Wasn’t fun. Anyway, see you all tomorrow. Bye.


	7. we need a monster to fight monsters.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 7. Huh. I finally caught up with my original story. In a fraction of the time it took. I’m not sure to be proud of myself or ashamed of my past self for abandoning a story so quickly. Ignoring that brief moment of self-deprecation, welcome to the next chapter! I’m literally making this up as I go along. I love it.

Artemis and Zoe Nightshade exchanged as look, before the Lieutenant of the Hunt smacked Kaneki Ken across the head. She watched the girl continue hitting him afterwards, gradually getting more and more irritated as each hit was punctuated with a word. 

“You,” a slap “don’t,” another slap “just,” now it was a punch “give,” another punch “the life story I had to pry out of you as a peace offering!” the final string of words came out all at once, punctuated by several hits to the head. Kaneki feebly attempted to fend the blows off by raising his hands, but they were just pushed down so that Zoe could deliver one more hard knock to the face before she was satisfied. Dramatically, the man flopped onto his back, pretending to have been injured despite the fact that Artemis had just watched every single wound she had managed to damage him with seal up like they were nothing. Not getting up, he began explaining his reasoning with a calm tone, ignoring the way Zoe had begun to search the surrounding area for “that stupid sword” and when she found the metal briefcase, started dragging it over to the collapsed form of one Kaneki Ken. 

“But Zoe, she won’t trust us if we don’t tell her the truth. We need as many allies as we can, because I can’t just keep revealing more tidbits about myself to every god that gets on my case. Besides, it’s kind of rude to leave her tied up. What harm can my ‘tragic backstory’,” he made air quotes with his fingers and drew out the word “tragic”, “do?” Zoe finally managed to finish dragging the case over, instead of opening it, she threw it onto Kaneki’s face and forced an oof out of him. She groaned and flopped onto the ground beside him and much to Artemis’ shock, she was pretty nonchalant about the close proximity between her and the male. 

“When I finally managed to talk you into giving me your ‘tragic backstory’, remember how annyoed you were afterwards? I don’t think that milady would appreciate being traumatized after losing a fight to a male mortal twice.” Artemis winced at both the reminder(a blow to her pride) and the deadpan way Zoe had delivered the comment, but Kaneki just chuckled before replying. 

“You disappeared for a week, then showed up later and told me that you weren’t going to leave again. It was like living with an overprotective mother, which wasn’t exactly the worst sensation considering I had never been fussed over by my mother, but it got tiring so quickly that I threatened to walk into wherever the Hunt was setting up camp and announce that I was looking for you.” Zoe cuffed him over the head while Artemis tried to process the tiny bits of information that were present in every single exchange the duo had, once again ignoring the jealousy that flared up at how  _ casual  _ they were. Slowly, she began contemplating whether or not it was more convenient to attempt to escape again rather than listen to them act like siblings(she pretended that the other option didn’t exist). 

“Could you please make your mind up  _ boy  _ so that I can finally get out of these bindings?” Kaneki opened his mouth, eager to reply, but his partner in crime just slapped her hand over his mouth and gave Artemis an irritated glare(shocking, considering this was probably the first time she had seen Zoe not treat her with absolute respect) and mouthed the words “don’t encourage him”, before pushing his face into the ground when he attempted to get up. 

“Kaneki, go do whatever it is you do when you disappear. I’ll have a talk with milady so that you don’t end up spilling everything to someone who might just relay it back to Olympus because I am not looking forward to being on the receiving end of a lightning bolt. The gods would probably keep my soul to torture for information because you’ll just slip through their fingers.” Kaneki made an expression that was a cross between agreement and disgruntlement, before shrugging and pushing the briefcase off himself, standing up and stretching before walking away. 

“Zoe, you know that I would break into the Underworld just to make sure your soul got to Elysium. I’m going to go and take a nap. Haven’t had a decent night of sleep in ages. Wake me up when you’re done.” seemingly ignorant of thee completely casual way he had stated that he was going to break into Hades’ domain just to ensure a single soul got to the place it rightfully deserved, he raised a hand in farewell, not bothering to turn around even as he melted into shadows that definitely weren’t there a second ago. Zoe looked at his disappearing form with something akin to fond exasperation, before shaking the expression from her face and sitting up to look Artemis in the eye. A brief moment of silence passed as the duo studied each other with blank faces. Artemis was searching for any traces of betrayal in the eyes of who she had once thought to be the most loyal of her Hunters, wondering how she had allowed her oldest partner to slip away and interact with a threat to Olympus for so long that they were comfortable with each other(an almost impossible feat, she would give Kaneki Ken that much credit, for Zoe Nightshade treated all members of the opposite gender with disgust that came from past scars) and how she had never noticed the way she had gradually began speaking in regular English instead of the olden version that Zoe had finally managed to get the hang of(Artemis had actually noticed, but just dismissed it, happy that her Lieutenant was fitting into the times). She saw no trace of deceit in those eyes, and then she pondered what Zoe was looking for in hers before she broke the silence.

“Forgive me milady. I owe Kaneki a debt that I fear will only grow as the years go by. Perhaps if he had decided that his friends were not worth the trouble, he would have continued living in obscurity and I would have eventually revealed his existence to you. It is regrettable that the two of you had to meet first in combat. Then again, I cannot exactly blame Kaneki,” a small smile graced Zoe’s face as she traced a finger along the thin string of a necklace that she had begun to wear about a decade ago and a pit formed in Artemis’ stomach as she connected another piece of the puzzle, “because that is just the type of person he is. It is why he chooses to live a normal life. Because he would walk through Tartarus just for his friends.” at the incredulous look on her goddess’ face, Zoe smirked and opened her mouth, only to close it. Before she could express her concern at the abrupt way she had shut herself up, her Lieutenant had fished out a bloodstained hunting knife from her pocket and gently touched the bindings on the goddess, tearing them like they were just strings, even though Artemis had been using her godly strength to try and rip the bindings apart(to no avail). Rubbing her wrists to get her blood circulating again, she asked one of the many questions that had been in her head ever since she had been betrayed. 

“How did you meet Kaneki Ken?” Has he always been…” what was the word she was searching for? Zoe tried to fill in the blank for her as she pondered a word to describe the most likely insane man that had decided to challenge monsters and gods to protect one of his friends. 

“Strong? Enigmatic? Crazy?” Zoe laughed quietly, looking around like she was expecting the man in question to pop out of the shadows as she described him, “Kaneki’s always been weird. You might already have figured this out, but he doesn’t seem to age. He’s frozen at the age of thirty I believe. Something along the lines of our own passive immortality due to your blessing. I met him around twenty years ago, when he saved me from a monster horde similar to the one that Hades had sent to kill a single child and his mother just hours ago. You might remember that. It was the time I disappeared because I wanted some alone time.” Artemis definitely wasn’t able to forget that. Despite the fact that the Hunt still had to perform its duties, thinning the herds so that the demigods wouldn’t be overwhelmed, she had spent all the time she could searching for her Lieutenant(and her Hunt was perfectly fine when they went on expeditions, only to find no monsters. It wasn’t like Artemis was using them as a guise to search for their lost sister. Nope. Not at all.) only for the girl to show up one day like she hadn’t even left, dressed in the same clothes that she had been wearing when she had vanished and oddly secretive about where she had been. The only thing that they had managed to get out of her was that she had been helping out a fellow hunter on their quest. She emphasized the word “hunter”, so they had assumed the mystery individual was most likely a female who had not fit the requirements to join the Hunt, thus beginning to hunt on their own. Interested, Artemis had asked her about the individual, wanting to see if there was some way that she was able to allow the mystery girl to join them. Zoe divulged tiny shards of information about the personality of the person she had been with for over a month, but quickly clammed up when her goddess had told her that she wanted to invite this person to the Hunt. Looking incredibly sheepish and panicked(which was a surprise in its own, Zoe rarely showed any emotion apart from happiness and contempt), her Lieutenant had told her that the hunter was definitely going to refuse if she invited her, and Artemis dropped the topic with disappointment. The goddess buried her face in her hands and sighed when the implications of her statement caused some more puzzle pieces to click together. 

“So that’s why you said that the hunter you were travelling with wouldn’t join the Hunt. Because the hunter was a  _ male _ . Why am I not suprised?” Zoe giggled quietly at the trace of despair in her words, nodding in agreement. 

“At first, I was just going to peg him in the forehead with an arrow and run away. Then I realized that I was contemplating fighting the guy who had just killed about forty assorted monsters at oncce. It was actually frightening, when I truly began thinking about it, the way he waded through monsters as their attacks slid off him and his sword tore through them like they were made of paper. I had a funny feeling that if I did anything to make him an enemy, I would be killed almost immediately. The fact is, I knew that he could have killed me along with the monsters. Instead of doing anything, like I expected him to, Kaneki just made sure that I was fine. And when he found out that I got mauled by a hellhound, he decided that it was his fault that it had happened and told me that I wouldn’t be leaving until I was healed. That was why I went missing.” well, that answered some of the questions Artemis had, but it also added to the mystery of Kaneki Ken. It seemed as if the man was a walking danger magnet. And was apparently very concerned about people in general, considering he made sure Zoe stayed until she was fully recovered. 

“Anyway, he left me alone, only showing up to make sure that I was still around and occasionally supplying me with the resources necessary to survive. All in all, the only reason I decided that it would be better to get to know him was because I was getting bored. He was a puzzle to pass the time, and I think he knew that, but still indulged me anyway. Kaneki may just seem like an ‘all brawn, no brain’ fighter, but he is very perceptive.” her tone was growing colder, and she gave Artemis a warning look. 

“Don’t attempt to trick him. He’ll know it. I don’t want to choose between my goddess and my friend, especially since he’ll win.” Artemis tried her best not to get offended at how Zoe immediately decided that Kaneki Ken would beat her, and her Lieutenant noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere. She patted the goddess on the shoulder and offered her a sympathetic smile. 

“Kaneki is a special case. Honestly, I still do not know the full extent of his abilities. He’s taken down gods before. His regeneration is amazing. All I’m sayin is that Olympus should be grateful that he decided to be a pacifist. Except for the fact that Hades tried to kill one of his friends. That’s one of the few things that really sets him off.” briefly, an image of Kaneki’s expression when he was fighting surfaced in her mind and she contemplated whether or not the changing eye colours was an indicator of his emotions. The joker seemed like he was the type that was unruffled by anything that was thrown his way, smiling at everything. The blazing silver and red eyes were unsettling enough, and Artemis believed that seeing the smiling fool angry was most likely going to terrify her. Lightning crackled and their eyes simultaneously shot to the sky. Zoe frowned, just as Kaneki reappeared, slightly smoking and clutching one arm. Briefly glancing at Artemis’ unbound form, he shrugged Zoe off as she began to check on his condition. 

“Zeus found where I was taking a nap and decided to pull a high-IQ move and drop some lightning on me. I managed to escape before the worst of it hit. Dammnit, I was hoping not to get electrocuted today! We need to move before they find this location. A shame really, it was a nice place.” picking up the briefcase with one hand and taking Zoe’s hand with his other, he gave Artemis a calm smile despite the hurry he seemed to be in. 

“You coming along? If we leave you here the calvary will show up soon.”

“You’re a dangerous man Kaneki Ken. A threat to the peace that we try to keep. The only reason I’m not attacking you now is because I promised to leave you and Zoe alone. While she may think that you’re a person to be trusted, the world would be better off with you dead.” her Lieutenant shot her a look of absolute betrayal, but the man she had just insulted chuckled and nodded knowingly at her words. The smile on his face took on a defeated edge. 

“Sometimes I wonder if the world is better off without me too.” and with that parting statement, the partners in crime began to liquify again, shadows of the surrounding objects reached out for their forms and quickly enveloped them in darkness. A split second of silence passed before they vanished. Just in time, in fact, considering that with a flash of light, Hermes appeared at her side, his signature grin and cocky attitude gone for the moment. He gave her a once over, and something akin to relief flickered across his face before the stony expression he had adopted returned. 

“What happened to you?” Artemis was more concerned about how Hermes looked like he was the one who had gotten beaten up by a man who didn’t even bother using the blade he wielded that could kill gods. Hermes gave her an incredulous look, shaking his head before replying. 

“We’ve been attempting to locate you for ages. The only reason we did was because that demon decided that he would take a nap on Zeus’ throne, while we were having a meeting! Imagine the outrage!” Artemis almost choked on air when she heard that. Briefly remembering how Kaneki was smoking, she winced.  _ Zeus found out where I was taking a nap,  _ she snorted,  _ Zoe’s going to kill him when she figures out what truly happened _ . Hermes gave her another look that screamed he was wondering whether she had managed to lose some of her sanity in the brief time she was with Kaneki Ken. 

“The demon’s name is Kaneki Ken. He has superhuman strength and speed, along with the ability to regenerate.” Hermes nodded at the information, before smirking. 

“Well, that doesn’t really matter anymore. His methods of teleportation are pretty easy to track, especially with the surge of power every time he does it. If he had departed a few minutes earlier instead of leaving just before I arrived, we wouldn’t have been able to track him. But because he didn’t, we’ll be able to pinpoint the next moment he shows up. The gods are pulling out all the stops with this. When he does appear, Zeus is going to rain lightning down on him. Artemis felt her heart stop. 

“He’s going to do WHAT? What if he winds up in Camp Half-Blood? Whatif he shows up in the middle of a crowded area full of mortals? What will happen then?” she quickly offerred an excuse for her panic, hoping against hope that Zeus would be reasonable enough to consider this. Hermes’ grimace told her otherwise. 

“He said that the cost doesn’t matter as long as we kill Kaneki Ken.” and at that point, thunder rumbled and they looked up to see tens of lightning bolts arcing through the sky, all converging on one location. She screamed, judging the location and immediately teleported to it. It was a plain grass field, just like the one he had brought her to earlier. There was a blackened crater in the ground, a single metal briefcase resting in the center of it, dented and scorched. Swallowing her terror, she looked for bodies. A guttural snarl made her turn around. Kaneki Ken was holding her Lieutenant, clothes damaged and his appearance that of someone who had just gone through a hurricane. Zoe looked unharmed, but she was definitely unconscious. Unceremoniously depositing her into Artemis’ arms, he roared to the heavens. 

“ **Zues! Come down here and face me like a man!** ” Unsurprisingly, when faced with someone who was challenging his pride, her father chose to do what he always did. 

A bolt of lightning struck the ground, and when she blinked the spots out of her eyes, Zeus was standing there, electricity crackling as it traced his body. Kaneki gave her a look, pointing to the girl in her arms and gesturing for them to move. She nodded, running as fast as she could as the air seemed to grow suffocating, hoping that Zoe was alright. Behind her, a primal battle cry that would have sounded better coming from the mouth of an animal echoed despite the lack of structures for the sound to bounce off. She shivered, her instincts flaring up and warning her. 

**“You tried to hurt my family. NO ONE HURTS MY FAMILY AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s a wrap. Kaneki’s going to fight his second divine being(third, if you counted Hades). He is angry. Angry Kaneki is scarier than the hulk to me. Anyhow, I’ll leave it here. I hope you enjoyed and soon my other reboot will finally emerge. See ya.


	8. We flourish in the darkness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter than usual, but something to keep my mind occupied and formulating the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, another chapter of this, writing a chapter for a story per day makes me feel extra productive. If only I could apply the same amount of energy and dedication to my studies. Then again, I do this as an escape. Is it really an escape if it becomes part of your life? Anyway, no time for questioning my life choices. Let’s begin.

There was something very unsettling about seeing Kaneki Ken angry. If one could harness his rage and convert it to the electricity mortals enjoyed using to power their cities, he would probably produce enough power for a country. Even so, his rage seemed to make him reckless. For one, he had just tanked so many lightning bolts that his magically repairing clothing was struggling to keep up and his briefcase was dented. And to further stack the odds against him, he was attempting to fight the King of the Gods with nothing but his bare hands, god-killer still left in the middle of a cratar. Artemis ensured that Zoe wasn’t about to die, handing her over to her brother(all of the twelve Olympians had teleported soon after their king had decided to take the not-human up on his challenge) and telling him(read:threatening him) to keep an eye on her in case her condition got worse before returning her eyes to the brewing fight. 

Zeus was staring down at the mortal intimidatingly, towering over him at his full height and crackling with restrained electricity. Yet, it was the irate monster, dwarfed by the sheer size of his opponent that struck the more imposing figure. He was practically vibrating in place with how much his body was trembling, still without his weapon. A glance to the side showed Artemis that Athena had begun sneaking towards the briefcase, curiosity in her eyes. And as the god and mortal continued to silently stare each other down, her hand made contact with the briefcase and Kaneki Ken jerked. Turning around, he  _ blurred _ , reappearing just to smash a fist into Athena’s face before she could react and followed through, slamming her into the ground, which shuddered in response. Picking up his weapon case, Kaneki gave the stunned goddess a savage kick in the ribs that made her slide across the dirt, coming to a stop when Artemis caught her, the only other member of the divine beings watching that had reacted as Kaneki began to move. Checking to make sure that she was fine(although fine was relative, because the man had given the goddess a concussion and several broken ribs), Artemis deposited her second patient by Apollo’s side and her brother gave her a look of growing horror as he took in the injuries their target had dished out within five seconds. The other Olympians remained still, for the divine laws ensured that they could not act out against mortals(although that was slowly becoming debatable), and the only ones that Kaneki had attacked were Athena and Artemis. She chose to remain out of the fight, however, because a part of her wanted to see how the monster fared against a god in a true fight, and another part of her wanted her father to pay for how he had almost vapourized her Lieutenant. 

**“Here’s what’s going to happen,”** Kaneki’s voice had taken on a demonic edge, and his words were more growled than spoken, **“I’m going to beat you within an inch of your life. And then you’re going to leave me alone.”** Zeus laughed, almost arrogantly and a ripple of confusion made its way through the gods and goddesses. Artemis swallowed, wondering what Kaneki held secret from them that made him so confident about his victory. Despite how short a period of time she had been acquainted with the man, something that had become crystal clear was that he never lied. His next action was something that didn’t help her rising stress levels and caused the hunter’s instincts she lived and fought by, for Kaneki Ken tossed his god-killer over his shoulder, the briefcase curving through the air and landing with a resounding crash beside Artemis(narrowly missing both her and Hermes, who had been standing beside her). They shared a look of confusion before Hermes attempted to pick the case up, staggering at its weight. Kaneki snapped a knuckle before speaking again. This time, his tone wavered between “demonic entity” and “polite gentleman”. 

“I will fight you without a weapon,  **because you are not even worth the bloodstains on my sword,** and also because I will enjoy this fight a lot more.” he shed the remnants of his cloak, tying the sleeves around his waist and shifting into a stance. Zeus watched this spectacle with so much puzzlement that Artemis could see error signs flashing in his brain at the lack of fear in the individual that had chosen to fight against the gods. 

“Very well,  _ mortal _ . Because I am a fair and benevolent god,” Artemis snorted under her breath and prayed that her father hadn’t been able to hear it(Hermes almost fell over with repressed laughter, dropping the case on his foot and crying out), “I will give you one free hit.” The hint of a smile crossed Kaneki’s face before he donned his mask, adjusting the eyepatch and cocking his head. 

**“One free hit you say?”** Zeus nodded, folding his arms over his chest and watching dismissively, having already written off his opponent in his head. In a move that screamed of stupidity, the Lord of the Sky shrunk to the size of a human, but still towering over his opponent. Artemis shook her head, sighing at Zeus’ mistake. She spoke out loud, drawing the attention of the gods and goddesses near her. 

“Never underestimate Kaneki Ken…” he stepped forward, bringing his arm back for a punch and abruptly, what looked like red tentacles sprouted from his back. 

“Because that’s how he levels the playing field.” the monster punched as his additional appendages simultaneously whipped through the air. In the blink of an eye, Zeus had developed a deep gash in his chest that  _ spurted _ ichor, clutching an arm that was hanging on by a thread and falling forward, balance lost along with one of his feet. The punch collided with the still falling god, launching him into the air. As he fell back to the ground, the four tentacles merged into a giant claw and caught the god, holding him suspended in the air and squeezing till Artemis could hear bones snapping under the pressure. Zeus roared in anger and in agony, another bolt of lightning striking the duo and causing her to shield her eyes from the blinding glare. When she managed to blink the spots out of her eyes, Artemis saw Zeus hanging limp in his adversary’s grasp, who was twitching and convulsing due to the shock to his system, but with more than enough control over his motor system to gradually force himself to grow motionless(minus the occasional twitch). Raising a hand as the claw brought the defeated god closer to its owner, he lifted Zeus’ chin and shook his head at the dazed look in the god’s eyes. 

**“I expected more from the King of Gods. Let this be a lesson to those who underestimate me.”** he flung his hand to the side and the claw slammed the individual in its grasp into the ground before splitting back into the four original limbs. Each one stabbed into one of Zeus’ four limbs and pinned him to the ground like a butterfly on a wall. Kaneki walked over, before kneeling down, a knee on each of Zeus’ forearms. Artemis resisted the urge to save her father, knowing that the monster who had beaten her without revealing those extra limbs would most likely wipe the floor with her and then there would be two members of the Council that would be in trouble. The remaining Olympians were forced to watch as he began to throw a flurry of punches, each with enough force to drive a cloud of dirt into the air. Thirty seconds passed before the victorious mortal stood back up, the additional limbs sliding back into his back and vanishing. Flicking the ichor from his hands(not that it helped, they were positively drenched), he turned to the remaining divine beings, a splash of golden blood across his mask only hammering home the fact that he had defeated the King of the Gods with barely a scratch in return for his efforts. He walked, tall and proud, and reflexively, Artemis took a step back. He holds out a hand, silently, and the gods and goddesses exchange looks before he gestures to the case lying discarded on the floor. Hesitantly, Hermes begins to lift it up a second time, wincing at the weight and his own aching foot. Before it was lifted above waist level, Kaneki had already stepped forward to snatch his case back and turned away to kick the groaning body on the floor. He paused, taking off the mask and glanced back(long enough for Artemis to see how his eyes had instinctively sought out Zoe Nightshade before softening, the blazing fire in them put out). He looked to Artemis, ensuring that her attention was fully on him before mouthing the words “ _ take care of her for me _ .” She nodded and was rewarded with a smile of relief. The shadows crept towards the monster again as he melted, disappearing into the shadows. Only then did the Olympians rush forward to check on their king. 

Artemis watched them, wondering, not for the first time, why they followed a god who had allowed his arrogance to get the better of him once again.

* * *

“So, that went well.” everyone gave Hermes a look for his quip and Artemis rolled her eyes, resisting the urge to fire an arrow at his throne just for the wisecrack. They were having yet another meeting about Kaneki Ken, and their failures in capturing him. This time Artemis was part of it, but they were two Olympians short instead of one now, with Zeus still in the equivelent of an infirmary for gods and with Apollo frantically attempting to keep him alive(well, not alive because gods couldn’t die so easily, but her brother was keeping him from constantly screaming in pain). Athena had recovered well enough for someone who had been decked in the face with a punch strong enough to send someone airborne and then kicked in the ribs so hard that her ribs had instantly fractured, even with the reinforced bodies that all gods and goddesses had. For someone that was supposedly human, minus his obvious abilities, to do so much to the King of Gods just because he decided to hurt his friend(Zoe was miraculously untouched, but still unconscious), it was a wake-up call to the gods that their troubles were not over just yet. Not by a long shot.  _ Just great, we receive a child that may be able to fulfill the Great Prophecy just in time for a man who can kill gods to show up.  _ The Olympians were still attempting to absorb the fact that one of their own had been so gravely wounded by a random stranger who hadn’t even been on their radar when he had shown up, unnanounced and dangerous. It was most likely the worst possible time for someone to be cracking jokes. Hermes shrank under the burning gazes of his fellow gods and goddesses, apologizing softly and looking down at his legs. Hera was the next to speak up. 

“What do we know about this ‘Kaneki Ken’? Artemis, you were the only one who managed to actually see him out of combat. What can we expect from him?” When all those eyes were turned on her, the goddess of the moon licked her lips, suddenly aware of how dry they were. She gathered her thoughts, then began speaking. 

“Kaneki Ken claims that he is human, or at least mortal. He possesses superhuman strength, speed and regeneration capable of allowing him to regrow a hand that I cut off when fighting him. As you’ve seen from earlier, he also has the ability to sprout limbs from his back.” Just as she finishes her sentence, a bemused voice corrects her. 

“Kagune. They’re called kagune.” eyes darted towards the source of the voice, and found Kaneki sitting cross-legged on top of Zeus’ throne. He held his mask in his hand, and instead of in its briefcase, the sword he carried was slung over his back. Cries of alarm sounded, but no one moved a muscle, for they still did not know if he was truly mortal, or a monster that they could kill without breaking the laws that had been imposed on them. Nevertheless, Artemis drew back an arrow, ready to fire at a moment’s notice. 

“Why are you here?” was the first question out of her mouth, even as she drew back the arrow even further and aimed for center mass, knowing that he would be able to dodge a shot to the head. Artemis was given a smile that didn’t quite reach the eyes, and as a response to her question, a single red limb( _ kagune _ , she reminded herself) snaked out from his back and curled around his arm. Jumping off the throne, he landed without a sound, causing the gods and goddesses nearer to him to flinch. Kaneki bowed, a mocking edge to his smile. 

“I have dealt with the threat to my friends. It is only polite that I offer my services to the Greek gods, is it not? After all,” he lifted his head and the smile on his face revealed hidden steel, “it would be problematic for me to have to fight against the gods because they decide that I am a theat.” Artemis winced at the matter-of-fact tone he had adopted. He wasn’t wrong, by anyone’s account, but it stung to have the person they had just been discussing bring up the subject. 

“How can we trust that you won’t betray us?” it was Athena this time who spoke warily, but her gaze was locked on the edge of the sword that was visible over his shoulder. Artemis sighed and relaxed the tension on the drawstring of her bow, fitting it back into the quiver on her shoulder that she had yet to remove. Instinctively, she knew that Kaneki was telling the truth when he stated that he wasn’t here for trouble. After all, he had yet to threaten/challenge anyone to a fight, and he did not hold the air of menace around him that was present when he was preparing for one. 

“I do not care about sides, Athena-san. All I fight for is myself, for I am a selfish man. As long as none of you try to harm those I care about, I will not do anything in retaliation. If anything else, I would prefer it if you gods and goddessees had never figured out I existed. But since it is too late for that, this is the next best thing that I could think of. In exchange for a few things, I will be your sword, in the events of a war.” the Olympians exchanged looks of confusion and relief at the statement. Artemis herself had mixed feelings about the offer. For one, it meant that they would have a strong ally on their side that could probably count as a one man army. However, it meant that he might put down terms that were unreasonable and would probably lash out if they could not be met. It seemed that her thoughts were apparent on her face, for Kaneki shot her a smirk that did nothing to alleviate her fears. 

“One, you leave me and whoever I deem it necessary be. My friends have no part in this. Two, I need some information. Three...actually I have nothing else to say. Just two things. That’s all I ask for.” another ripple of uncertainty and confusion.  _ Why would someone so powerful ask for so little in return for what is essentially giving up his freedom?  _ Artemis mulled over the question in her head, testing out several theories before coming up with a single one that made sense.  **_He is planning something. Something that requires the Olympians to be on his side._ ** And yet, without a proper reason, they would not be able to refute his offer. Accept it, and gain a sword that might stab them in the back. Refuse, and they would be met with the fury of a monster who seemed to have no limits to his power. He may be mortal(something that could still be argued over), but this “mere mortal” was one of the most dangerou foes that they ever had the misfortune of encountering. He hopped, boosting himself off the edge of Zeus’ throne and perched on the seat of it, mask still in hand, that infuriating smile still on his face. From the silence of the other Olympians, they had probably followed similar lines of thought to end up in the same place that she had. He cocked his head tauntingly to one side. 

“Come on then. I don’t have all day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An experimental chapter, largely similar to the original version of this story. This flows better than the first, but I’m not really satisfied. There’s something missing. Eh. I’ll figure it out eventually. I hope you enjoyed it.


	9. so don't you dare let in the light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We talk things out like civilized beings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back! Hopefully this comes out by the end of today. Coming back from the break is pretty weird, all things considered. After stopping the daily update schedule, it kind of threw off my pace. A testament to how fast my brain was running for an entire month. I hope you enjoy it!

All things considered, Kaneki Ken was a very intimidating individual despite the fact that he was the smallest person in the room. A “human” who, according to Zoe, had walked the surface of the Earth for much longer than one would guess based on his appearance. In the beginning, most of the danger that came from the man that they thought was mortal could be attributed to the god-killer he wielded like any other weapon. Now, they had witnessed him topple the King of the Gods, in the span of a couple of minutes with four limbs( _ kagune _ , she reminded herself, testing the feeling of the odd word on her tongue) that sprouted from his back and essentially gave him another four blades in addition to his own. He had done it without breaking a sweat, and the way his smile never dropped from his face seemed to mock their previous efforts to subdue him. She surpressed a shudder at the only time that expression had dropped from his face, replaced by a burning fury that reminded her of the anger of one of her huntresses, who had been accepted into the Hunt shortly after she had been found surrounded by the bodies of her dead family and repeatedly stabbing the person who had been responsible for it all, strung up and restrained. The anger of someone who had watched their world collapse around them and could do nothing to stop it. Although, something in his eyes, the panic in them hinted at the fact that it wasn’t the first time he had to witness someone he knew in the line of fire. It wasn’t much of a clue to his past, but it was something, if you consider how little they knew about the not-human. Of course, considering how little he asked for in return for “his services”, it would be foolish of them not to think over his offer. They didn’t know how the monster would react if they rejected him. Once again, Artemis silently cursed the rules that bound the gods, the rules that didn’t apply to Kaneki Ken because of technicalities. She had a funny feeling that he knew more than he let on. 

Artemis wondered how the other gods would go about this. She wasn’t completely for the plan, but she had to admit that Kaneki Ken had a point. The gods needed a pawn to carry out their work(and get back the Master Bolt) and despite how infuriating the man was, he did not have unfair requests.  _ Although,  _ she thought grimly,  _ she would rather die than let Zoe go with him _ . She instinctively knew that her Lieutenant would most likely go with her friend, rather than her goddess. It stung, but considering Zoe had betrayed her in order to save Kaneki, it clearly showed how highly the huntress regarded the man. It was irritating to think about, especially when Artemis remembered how comfortable the duo were with each other. Absentmindedly, she wondered once again if Zoe’s transition to using regular English after years of refusing to change her manner of speaking was due to Kaneki(and honestly, it seemed more and more likely every time she thought about it) and pondered what he could have done to make her change. Zoe was one of the most stubborn members of the Hunt. It took more effort than it was truly worth it to convince her to do something she didn’t want to do or agree with an opinion that she did not agree with. 

It killed her inside, but she had to admit that Zoe might be better off with the male. While she would protest against using the Lieutenant of the Hunt as a bargaining chip just because she knew Kaneki, Artemis understood that the fear of the smiling monster who bested Zeus would overpower any logical reasoning. Fear did things to people, it twisted thoughts and could drive even the most rational people insane. When people feared someone, they would do anything to destroy the individual that they were afraid of. If the unfortunate person to be used as a sacrificial lamb had not been one of her hunters(moreso arguably her favourite huntress), Artemis would definitely have gone ahead with the plan that involved using the person to restrict him enough for them to subdue their enemy. Then again, when Kaneki had been the subject of the equivilent of a divine artillery strike concentrated in one spot, he had somehow managed to dodge most of the damage and prevent Zoe from dying(although she was still unconscious). They could use their new weapon Kaneki to retrieve the Master Bolt(she hoped) and the fact that he had nearly killed her father would be pushed to the back of their minds, serving as a reminder that they had in their midst a monster who was ready to wage war for the people he knew . And despite everything they had seen him do, it was a reasonable choice to make. Infuriating, but reasonable. Just like the man himself. To Hades with him. Kaneki was still smiling amicably, the only indicators of what he was feeling, if he was feeling anything, was the curling and uncurling of his fingers and the sporadic flashing of his eye from grey to that demonic black and red he had revealed, one of the only physical signs that he wasn’t as human as he pretended to be. Her hand tightened around her Symbol of Power. That eye was a consistent reminder of the undying beast she had just lost to and how it was almost completely different from the sarcastic joker that he was outside of combat. 

Athena was the first to speak. “While your terms are acceptable, I still think that you are better off if we go through with the deal that you propose. For one, we don’t know what you are or why you have chosen to reveal yourself. Two, we do not know your full capabilities. Are you a smokescreen? A pawn? Or the one pulling the strings? I propose a mutual exchange of information. One for one. Then, both parties will be better off.” No gods or goddesses interrupted, even though some seemed like they wanted to. Athena was the Master of Strategy and Wisdom. It was best to leave things like these up to her. She was the type to figure out someone’s plans from their mannerisms. Kaneki Ken may be an adept in combat, but the only reason why they barely had any information on him was because he was a new player in this game, someone who had just been hiding in the shadows. It shouldn’t be too hard for Athena to extricate the information they needed to gain an edge over him in case he decided to turn against the gods. After all, he hadn’t exactly been pleased by how he had been forced to reveal himself. Artemis would have been frothing with rage if someone had decided to hurt her hunters. The brief moment of fury that Kaneki had showed just before he had torn some of Zeus’ limbs off and turned his face into a bloody mess was probably a fraction of the rage that Artemis could see flickering behind those alien eyes from time to time, and even then she had to look very closely to catch a glimpse of the feelings he suppressed. It would be a dark day when he would finally crack and shatter like glass under the pressure of the things he tried to hide. No one could hide beneath a mask for so long without suffering any side effects. He was most likely in a fragile mental state, now more than ever because of the recent stress that he had been put under. A few choice words would probably be enough to destroy the barriers he had. 

_ Then again,  _ she watched as he fiddled with the hilt of his sword(still smiling, why didn’t he stop smiling?),  _ Kaneki Ken cannot be underestimated _ . Briefly, the warning of her Lieutenant surfaced in her head, ominous words delivered in the icy tone she reserved for any unfortunate pigs that attempted to flirt with her during the rare trips that they had which involved actual civilisation. She shivered despite the fact that the Throne Room was always at a comfortable temperature and made a mental note never to look down on their new opponent. 

Kaneki tugged at his hair for a brief moment, hopping off from his perch on Zeus’ throne(leaving two distinct footprints on the seat) and made himself comfortable in front of the hearth before answering with an unnatural gleam in his eyes. “I will agree to an information exchange. However, the information I will divulge will be entirely up to me. If I were to  _ not  _ want to answer a question, I can. In return, you can do the same.” and now he was offering a suggestion to make it easier for them to get information. He was definitely up to something. They really needed to figure out the game he was playing before he got too far ahead. If they were playing chess against Kaneki Ken, he would already be five to seven steps ahead. If his plan wasn’t cracked any time soon, it would lead to disastrous consequences if the “spider web” both he and Zoe had mentioned to her was literally a web of connections he possessed and they were the unfortunate prey caught in it. Athena scoffed at his words, and the minute tightening of his smile was the onl reaction to her clear dismissal of him. 

“You would just not answer any question we pose if they reveal too much information about you. I propose that you can ‘pass’ some of the questions we have for you, but after you use up that number of passes you’ll be forced to answer whatever we ask of you. The same conditions would apply to the questions we have to answer. Five passes.” Kaneki scoffed in an almost exact copy of the way Athena had just done so, and Artemis repressed a snicker of amusement at how he was annoying the Goddess of Wisdom less than an hour after the two of them had gotten acquainted. 

“I’m a man of little secrets. Divine beings, however, have so many of them. You lot were around since the beginning of the universe, if the myths and legends are to be believed. Two passes.” looking around, she could tell that none of the Olympians were convinced that he had “little secrets”. It wasn’t every day you got to meet a person who could regrow limbs, defeat a god and  _ she couldn’t emphasize enough how a god-killer shouldn’t exist _ . Athena rolled her eyes, an odd gesture if you considered the fact that she usually held herself with a dignified air and could be counted on to be one of the few Olympians to actually stick to the task during one of their meetings. It was weird for her to be so expressive. Then again, Kaneki Ken was the type of person to bring out the worst in people. She wasn’t very surprised. 

“Four. We’ve seen what you can do. Considering you’re still standing, I know for certain that there is much more you are hiding. Not all of us are as rash as my father. Do not think for a second that we will underestimate you.” Kaneki’s smile curved into something much more sinister, and she briefly got the mental image of a hidden blade. He clapped twice(by the gods, every action he took seemed to be engineered to infuriate as much as possible) before replying again. 

“Smart choice. Three passes, your golden number according to whatever Greek mythology I’ve read before, should be fine. Agreed?” Athena mulled over it, and Artemis knew that Kaneki was tired of the game that they were playing, and his offer carried an undertone of finality that was also a warning. She sighed before nodding. 

“Agreed. Now, may I ask that you protect Camp Half-Blood as part of your new duties as Olympus’ sword?.” it was a good idea. The demigods would have a protector apart from Chiron, if anyone decided to pull a Hades and attempt to storm the camp. However...

“I was planning to do so free of charge,” Artemis cursed silently at the look on Athena’s face, knowing she had been outplayed this instance, “but since you’re being so kind as to ask me, I’ll oblige. In exchange, I want you to teach me.”

Shock made Athena lapse into silence. Artemis was pondering the request, running it over in her mind like many others right then. While she could take his words at face value, he was a  _ male _ . He might want Athena to do some...undesirable things. Artemis was about to speak her mind when her sister raised a hand to stop any potential outbursts. A series of expressions were transitioning across her face, ranging from curiosity to hunger.  _ What was she thinking?  _

“Teach you what exactly? From what I have seen of your abilities, there is nothing I know that you would need. What are your motives?” Kaneki blinked, before an incredulous look crossed his face and he spread his arms wide. 

“You’re the Goddess of Wisdom and Battle. While I am not particularly rusty in those departments, both of us know that knowledge is power. Seize every opportunity and turn it into a weapon. Honour means nothing in war. I think I need a refresher course on strategy after being well, alone, for such a long time. It’s hard to be a team-player you know?” Artemis watched amusement and surprisingly, sympathy make its way onto Athena’s face. She turned her gaze to searching Kaneki Ken, darting from his clothes to his posture. 

“Your words are more than a little disconcerting. How can I trust that you won’t use the information I teach you against us?” Kaneki grinned and cracked a knuckle. 

“You can’t.” Athena’s neutral expression quirked into a smile before it was smothered quickly. “But, the risk should be outweighed by the benefits. For one, as I learn from you, you will absolutely learn from me. My actions, my thought processes and morality. Wouldn’t you then be able to put me down if I try to overthrow the gods?” the goddess shook her head disapprovingly in response. 

“You seem like a smart person despite how little we know about you. Obviously, you wouild have thought of back-up plans if you’re willing to take the chance of us learning your weaknesses. Pass.” Kaneki was unfazed by the refusal. In fact, he looked like he had been expecting it with how relaxed he was. 

“How about I throw in my favourite weapon so that you’ll know how it functions?” Athena’s eyes glinted with barely concealed glee at the mention of the blade as he unsheathed it and gently placed it across his lap. It glowed softly, and Artemis was once again unnerved by how it looked almost alive,  _ hungry for blood _ . 

“I see. Proposal accepted. Moving on, did you know of this world before you stepped in to save Sally Jackson from harm?” Kaneki nodded, his smile now taking on a “well duh” edge to it. 

“I’ve been around for a long time. Of course I do.” 

“Did you know anyone connected to the godly world?”

“I’m friends with Zoe.” the gods and goddesses exchanged looks of shock and disbelief, before turning to Artemis, the unspoken question hanging in the air as she sighed. 

“Yes, Zoe Nightshade, my Lieutenant is...aquianted with him. Unfortunately.” Kaneki snickered at the bitter tone that had crept into her words. Wisely, her brother decided to keep his mouth shut for once, though she could sense the way he was silently laughing at her frustration. She resolved to make him pay for his transgressions at a later date. 

“Any other individuals?” Kaneki smirked, nodding, but not elaborting on the situation. He tapped the side of his temple. 

“I can’t reveal all my cards. Don’t worry, I don’t know anyone that would be considered your enemies.” Athena gave him a searching look, and seemed to find what she had been looking for. 

“If you have nothing else to add, I’m done with my questions.”

“Pleasure speaking to you Athena-san.”

The tension in the room was probably thick enough to cut through with a knife. Artemis watched both Kaneki and Athena, feeling unsettled by the easy way they had dissolved into talking.  _ Great minds think alike?  _ Seeing as the minor debate was over, Artemis waited patiently for Athena to signal that someone else could talk, already forming questions. Important ones. Unfortunately for her, it seemed like she would have to wait, because Hera had already started firing off questions to her dismay. Simple, menial ones that Kaneki answered easily, unruffled by the speed and intensity of the questions. From them, she could start adding details to her profile of Kaneki Ken. Plenty of details, but nothing useful like his abilities and intentions(naturally, it was  _ Hera  _ asking the questions. She would be trying to find links to manipulate him. Sneaky witch.)

**Name: Kaneki Ken**

**Age: 30(at least, biologically)**

**Birthday: December 20th(He didn’t specify the year)**

**Relatives: None**

**Family: None**

**Friends: Zoe Nightshade, Sally Jackson(Poseidon’s lover)**

**Occupation: Manager of a cafe, “RE”**

**Motives: (?)**

**Abilities: Advanced Cellular Regeneration, Swordsmanship, Heightened Strength ,Speed and Reflexes. Seems to possess some form of martial arts training. High levels of Intelligence.**

**Unconfirmed: Red ‘strings’ that he can manipulate(?)**

**Discerning features: An eye that turns black(sclera red) when he feels anger. Intimidation factor?**

While no questions had been passed, Artemis(and most likely the other gods/goddesses) had gathered some information from the exchange between Hera and Kaneki Ken. To draw a summary, he was an unassuming person, someone that would have been looked over without a second thought if he hadn’t revealed himself to intervene with the fates of those in Camp Half-Blood. He had no emotional links to anyone but her Lieutenant and Poseidon’s lover, which was troubling. It meant that the number of available people to use against him was zero. Zoe was out because she was one of  _ her  _ Hunters, gods know what she would do to anyone trying to use her as a shield from Kaneki Ken’s wrath. Poseidon would likely feel the same way about his lover. So, Kaneki Ken was continuing to reveal how dangerous he was. Disconcerting. Returning to the conversation, Kaneki had started asking questions about the godly world. Simple ones that anyone with a few weeks of experience would know(hadn’t he said that he knew about their world?), yet be completely absent to a mortal. It was after the fifth or sixth question that his train of thought turned searching.

“I’ve seen godly beings disappear in a flash to reveal themselves in a different area. How does that work.”

“Revealing our divine essences allows us to travel at very high speeds.”

“Are you vulnerable during that time?” Hera exchanged an uncomfortable look with the other Olympians. “Pass.”

Athena looked frustrated at the skipping of the question. Artemis could understand. The wording of the question had made sure that Kaneki Ken would get his answer no matter which way it would go. Smart. 

“A question to you. Why did you start interfering in the affairs of our world?”

“Simple. I decided that I couldn’t just stand there and watch as innocents died to please their parents. The death of that daughter of Zeus made me rethink my plans. For one, I knew that you ‘divine beings’ needed to be  **shown your place in the world** .” Artemis fought back the feeling of her skin crawling from the dead tone his voice had taken on. Hera looked stricken, and Poseidon made a small noise of shock.

“My turn. What do your powers entitle?”

“Well...apart from the obvious difference in strength, speed and reactions compared to mortals, we are immune to mortal weapons and have control over our domains and specialize in them.”

“Does that include materialization, creation and destruction?”

“Yes.”

“To what extent?”

“Pass.” Artemis interrupted the conversation before Kaneki could extract even more information. He smiled, much to the ire of those present.

“How did you survive some of the strongest lightning strikes Zeus has ever used against a human?”

“Fast and efficient regeneration. Also, a healthy diet and plenty of coffee.”

“You dare mock us  **mortal** ?” Ares had opened his mouth for the first time in the entire meeting, incensed by the sheer lack of respect. Artemis snorted with disdain.  _ What a pig _ . 

“Course I do. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

“You little…”

“Ares, I advise you to keep your mouth closed for now.” Kaneki’s grin widened when Athena gave the god a scathing glare, which made him drop his gaze, slightly mollified. Nevertheless, he kept a burning stare on Kaneki’s form once she had moved on, sharpening a knife in what was probably an attempt to look intimidating. Kaneki flipped him off, a gesture that only Artemis and Hermes had caught, judging from the guffaw. She chuckled quietly. It wasn’t everyday she could watch someone put the most piggish of the male gods in his place.

“What are the limits of your regeneration?”

“I don’t know.”

“What is the greatest feat your regeneration has achieved?”

“I’ve regenerated my limbs in about five seconds consistently for about three to four minutes.”

“Why would you need to do that?”

“Pass.” The question had dropped Kaneki Ken’s smile. It seemed to bring up bad memories. Something else to remember. Everything they learned about him was useful, in one way or another. 

“What enemy do you all truly fear?”

“There are a few. Typhon is one of them.”

“Does the name Kronos ring a bell? I mean, I know he’s supposed to be chopped into pieces and all...” It looked like Kaneki Ken was here today to throw surprises like presents into everyone’s face. Great. Just great. Even a person with little to no contact with the Greek world already knew of the brewing chaos over the horizon. Wasn’t that just perfect? 

“You...what are you insinuating by that?”

“You haven’t answered my question. Answer it and I’ll answer yours.”

* * *

Naturally, Athena had found Kaneki fascinating. As from the brief moments where he let his personality bleed into his words, he felt very strongly about injustice and unfairness. Her curiosity was piqued when he had decided to show up in the most flamboyant way he possibly could have, in the middle of his enemies. And yet, the man himself never bat an eye, unfazed by all the chaos and threats that he had incurred on himself. He seemed to enjoy them more than seeing them as an issue. Troubling, worrying, but interesting. Her little discussion with him had revealed a mind sharpened by experience, experience that came with age, which was impossible as he was so  _ young _ . He asked questions that were straight to the point and specific, digging for weaknesses, loopholes, faults in the system. It was bad for the future safety of Olympus, but it currently made Athena see the mortal in a different light. At first, he was just a person who could swing a sword, all brawn, no brain. Zeus was one of the Big Three, yes, but it was easy enough to overwhelm anyone with an unstoppable force, like ants bringing down an elephant. 

Except, you had to recall the fact that he had also beaten Artemis, not once, but twice. Her sister was not one to be messed with, keen intellect and honed reflexes made her a skilled, dangerous opponent who would not bow in the face of pressure easily. In the first fight, Kaneki had somehow managed to pull a surprise turnabout with the help of Zoe Nightshade. Of course, they had gotten a rematch, one that Artemis should have won, hands down. And yet, she was utterly  _ destroyed  _ in the fight. Kaneki Ken came out unscathed, as if he had just swatted a fly. That had raised his threat level considerably. His intellect was something that sent alarms blaring in her head, for no mortal was that gifted without any secrets. So she had tried to draw those out of him, but to no avail. Now, they were at a standstill. While she wanted to know how exactly he had learned the name “Kronos” and the problems that came with the name, she was not willing to reveal some of her cards just yet. It was rather tempting. Her mind raced with thoughts, trying out scenario after scenario to see if that information could be used against them negatively. The answer to that was yes. However, she could lessen the danger by only slipping him general things that wouldn’t matter. But was the risk worth the information? She glanced at Artemis, the only other god/goddess that seemed to be properly invested in the questioning session.

_ Is it worth it? _

**_Probably. Kaneki Ken has many secrets. This will be one of the only free ones he will give._ **

**_All you need to worry about is him stating something generic._ **

_ That is not something to worry about.  _

**_You sure?_ **

_ We are dealing with a person with both sharp intellect and the combat skills to back it up. I’d say that nothing I will do will be “sure”. _

**_Very well. Good luck._ **

“Kronos, is well, for lack of a better word, the father of the eldest gods here. As you probably know from mythology, he is the master of Time. He had been sliced up and cast into Tartarus, which would be what you call ‘Hell’ to rot. His consciousness was spread across his pieces, so he should be unable to form coherent thoughts or do anything. So. How do you know him? And what do you know about him that we don’t?”

“Well done not answering the implications behind my question. I suppose you all know this. If not all, some of you should. Kronos is very much alive. I would know. He tried to recruit me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is more similar to the previous version of this story. Anyway, that’s it for this chapter. Tomorrow, I will be releasing my fourth and final story. Hopefully it’s the final one. I know that some people write so many gosh darn stories at once, but those are usually one shots or small stories. Four long stories, with no end in sight...I hope this works. Anyway, enjoy!


	10. Devils don't cry. They don't deserve to.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little bit more plot as I try to sort out my brain. I have no idea what I'm doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, another chapter! I’m really diving into uncharted territory here. Things are beginning to get complicated. Do I follow canon but modify it with the addition of Kaneki? Or do I try and forge my own path? Decisions, decisions. Oh, before I forget, FoxyAtTheCorner is back!!! Their story is what inspired me to write this(and my previous one) in the first place, and it’s exciting to see that they weren’t just going to leave it as a one shot. Anyway, let’s begin.

The perfect analogy for describing the Throne Room of Olympus after Kaneki Ken had casually commented on how Kronus was apparently alive, and had tried to recruit him, would be the chaos one would expect from a crowded area like a mall after someone tossed a grenade into the midst of the crowd. Explosions of noise, with Ares immediately leaping from his seat and whipping out a sword the size of Olympus’ new headache, slashing directly at the man even as some of the other Olympians began to shout at each other or at Kaneki himself. Artemis was already drawing back her bowstring, despite something telling her that he would not need any help to defend himself from the longsword hurtling towards his head. Kaneki absorbed the chaos, the panic and watched calmly as a blade began its descent. Athena had already yelled out a warning, and the confused gods and goddesses directed their attention to the murder in progress. The immortal monster smiled serenely, unfazed by his impending doom. Just before the sword kisses his hair, an eye flashes red and a sudden burst of killing intent fills the air as he  _ moves _ . 

With a flicker of what appeared to be blue fire, Kaneki dodged the sword(which left a hole in the floor that would need to be fixed later), reappearing on top of the weapon perched like a demented pigeon. A single quick jab, and the massive blade snapped into two. Another flicker, but now of darkness that reminded her of his chosen method of teleportation(so what was the first burst of fire?), Kaneki reappeared in mid-air, already in the process of a roundhouse kick that collided with Ares’ face. A visible crunch and the whiplash that came with having your head knocking into something while you were in the process of walking, except multiplied about a hundred times later, Ares had been forcefully blown back into sitting on his throne. No longer looking so calm or human, he drew the god-killer and rested it gently against the throat of the pale and concussed God of War. A hand was raised slightly, and with a quick jerk, he snapped a knuckle without flinching. Despite having to position himself on the god’s throne(one of his legs embedded into the backrest of the seat) in order to get to a suitable height for his blade to reach the neck of the god who had attempted to kill him, he gave off the air of a man about to murder another. The god-killer looked like a toothpick in comparison to the person it was being used on. Yet, with the way it was pulsing gently, almost throbbing like a beating heart ripped from someone’s chest, made it so much more terrifying than any weapon Hephaestus had ever created. Kaneki’s mouth twitched, curving into a mockery of a smile. 

“Now, now. Let’s not be hasty here. Wouldn’t it be a shame,” he gently applied pressure to Ares’ neck and a single drop of ichor dripped along the edge of the blade, “if my hand were to just...slip?” no one dared to make a move, or even a single sound. The God of War gulped, but attempted to put on a brave face that quickly vanished when Kaneki pretended to stumble, slicing a thin line across his neck. Internally, Artemis snorted at the pathetic display of one of her fellow Olympians. If she had emphasized one thing in their meeting, it was that the enigmatic immortal was not someone to be trifled with. While he had been downright ruthless in their fight, there was something akin to an unspoken rule he followed during it. Perhaps it was because she was essentially the sister of his friend. Or because she had challenged him to a fair fight in the first place. In any case, he had been too out of it to treat Zeus with the same civility that he had extended to her. Tearing the god into pieces and smashing his face in after that, with strikes that caused the ground to shiver and had drawn so much ichor out of the youngest of the original Olympians that the ground it had splashed upon would be saturated for decades. Her father had attempted to harm someone he held close to his heart. How would Kaneki react to a direct, uncalled for, attempt on his life? The room itself seemed to be holding its breath in anticipation and terror of what he would do next. The monster held a brief staring contest with the god who had tried to strike him down, an expression of clear distaste and incredulity on his face. It said as clear as day, what they all were thinking at that point of time.  _ What would possess you to think that you could kill him?  _ A minute of intense silence passed, feeling like an hour. With a huff and a flourish, the blade was removed, flicked twice to splash the traces of godly blood on it onto the floor of the Throne Room. Leaping from his position, he kicked another hole into Ares’ throne and performed an unnecessary backflip before landing seated in the exact spot he was in the beginning. Still smiling. Artemis felt a small spike of irritation at the way he gave her a glance, as if Kaneki recognized what she was thinking. 

“Before anyone else rudely interrupts me, I was about to say that I rejected his offer, told him that he could shove it somewhere the sun didn’t shine and left before he could vapourize me or at least try to. A little disappointing how I was attacked almost immediately after I agreed to fight alongside the Olympians. Would this be considered... _ breaking of a truce _ ?” the gods and goddesses tensed up at the edge that had crept into his tone, and Artemis saw Hermes pale at the notion that because of Ares’ stupidity, they had declared themselves fair game. She rolled her eyes. Male pigs. Never able to think through the sheer thickness of their skulls or the testosterone flooding through their veins. She almost snarled at the dumbfounded look on the face of the God of War. Had he really not considered the gravity of his actions? Somehow, through her life as a goddess, the only male that had managed to live up to her expectations as a decent human being was perhaps not a person at all. Very slowly, she notched an arrow and started to draw the bowstring back again. She only stopped when something snaked along her arm, tightening as it got to her hand. Glancing down, she noticed with no small amount of alarm that there was a red string, identical to the one Kaneki had used in his traps winding around her fingers and binding her arm to her side. Artemis cursed, tugging fruitlessly at the bindings that she knew were tough enough to withstand godly strength. Beginning to discreetly saw at it with a hunting knife, she felt the urge to deck Kaneki Ken across the head with all her might increasing when a second string snatched the knife from her grasp, wrapping it like a present before spitting out a ball of metal which had once been a weapon.  _ Guess he’s still prepared _ . A sharp intake of breath caught her attention, and her eyes snapped to Ares, who was beginning to levitate. Upon closer inspection, his limbs were tied to the same red strings that their enemy turned uncertain ally manipulated with the minute twitching of a few fingers. His eyes were cold, and had already begun to shift to a molten silver, while the sign of his instability appeared and disappeared erratically, just as terrifying as the eyes that looked too much like hers. Kaneki extended a hand and squeezed an invisible object, which caused Ares to immediately cry out and begin screaming as his bones began to snap like twigs. The ichor spilling from his wounds didn’t seem to hit the ground, instead slowly vanishing the longer it remained in contact with the wires. Tilting his head in a childish manner that just added to the general spooky vibe that he was giving off, he unholstered his blade and took a familiar stance. 

“Perhaps the gods need a lesson in showing respect.” and as the last word dropped from his lips, Kaneki swung so hard that she felt the air itself part for his weapon. A large gash appeared across Ares’ chest, and he screamed once again, long and drawn out. The agonizing sound made her wish that she could reach her bow, or just use her hands to cover her ears and drown out that infuriating noise. Sheathing the god-killer, he stepped in front of Ares with three quick strides(only then did Artemis notice everyone was restrained and struggling to break free). Amongst the variants of “don’t do this” and “spare him” mixed in with the occasional “fuck you” from the God of War himself, the monster lunged forward and crushed the god’s manhood. A sickening squelch, followed by a pop, and then a scream that was four octaves higher than what Ares usually sounded like as Kaneki wiped off the liquid on his hand, a clear look of disgust on his face. Flicking the last of the liquid onto Ares’ face, he dropped the god onto the floor, where he curled up into a fetal position and started crying. 

“Perhaps it would be for the better if you didn’t procreate you pathetic excuse for a god of war. I’ve met a lot of people in my life. Countless mortals and immortals that would have satisfied the role much better than you’ll ever. Now scram,” he waited for approximately five seconds before scoffing, “you’d think a god had more tolerance for pain. Fine then, see you next time you need someone to knock you down a peg or two. Or ten.” A flick of the wrist as a singular piece of his kagune slithered out from his back, wrapping around his arm and turning it into a makeshift battering ram. Winding up, he punched and sent the injured god flying through the closed doors, leaving an Ares sized hole as the only hint that the god of war had ever been in the room. A sharp exclamation of surprise alerted Artemis to the fact that someone had already discovered the man. Despite her disgust and anger, she felt a small pang of pity at the way he had been so utterly and totally annihilated for a single mistake. Then again, that was the way the world worked. The strong picked on the weak, and any form of an opposing force would simply be crushed. Still, to so callously crush a man’s pride was the type of thing she thought that only women could dare to do, because she had always heard about how even during fights between men, the unspoken rule was that there was no hitting the groin. And here, Kaneki had done it with the ease of someone who had done it many times before. She didn’t know whether or not to be impressed or disturbed by the notion. Poseidon looked like someone had told him that his life had been a lie. Hermes had the expression of someone who’s life had been turned upside down. Hera looked like she had been slapped by a mortal. And Athena remained unfazed, though a bead of sweat trickled down her cheek. Dionysus seemed to have somehow drunk himself into unconsciousness despite the fact that she knew he had been banned from drinking any forms of alcohol. Aphrodite appeared to be going into shock just from seeing her boyfriend(another reason for her to hate the goddess of love was how she refused to be loyal to her true husband) destroyed like an ant. Hephaestus possessed an expression of mild interest mixed with curiosity while Demeter had straight up passed out in her throne, not used to such levels of violence. Hestia looked unimpressed, even disappointed. Artemis’ brain stuttered, then rebooted.  _ Hestia? _

The goddess of the hearth, who had faded into the background ever since she had given up her seat as an Olympian to Dionysus(a waste, replacing who was essentially the glue of their family with a drunkard), was standing in front of the still form of Kaneki Ken, in her usual eight year old body. Her right hand was enveloped by a small fire, the same shade of blue that one would call sapphire, but somehow not the colour. She stared down the immortal beast, the serious nature of the situation ruined by how short she was in comparison to her opponent. Artemis wanted to call out a warning, but found even more threads making a rough gag that tasted like blood. Hestia didn’t back down at the sheer amount of killing intent rolling off the man in waves, raising her hand and in a move that bordered on insanity, placed her blazing appendage on the side of Kaneki’s face. When he stayed immobile, the goddess of the Hunt expected to smell the stench of burning flesh soon enough, but no such smell began to permeate the air. The fire seemed to curl around the edge of his face, almost like an embrace. Still, there was nothing. No cries of pain. No scent of roasted human. Just two odd individuals, standing so close to each other that a slight push would knock one into the other. She briefly wondered what in her uncle’s name was going on before Hestia began to speak. 

“You’ve had a rough day, haven’t you?” the sentence elicited a delighted chuckle and Kaneki stretched a pale hand to cup the one on his cheek. 

“When do I not have a bad day?” Kaneki smiled, talking like the two of them were old friends. Hestia gave a small giggle, before stepping forward and embracing the monster. Ripples of surprise ran through the Olympians, each one sharing a look with those closer to them in order to ensure that they weren’t just hallucinating. Artemis felt dread pool in her gut. It appeared that Kaneki Ken had more connections in the godly world than “just Zoe”. The man in question reciprocated the hug, and the two of them stayed that way for a moment that appeared to stretch into eternity, breaking apart when the doors to the Throne Room of Olympus creaked open and Zoe Nightshade burst through, eyes wide and panicked. Gaze skipping over the imprisoned forms of the various gods and goddesses(even Artemis, which was another sting), before settling on the duo in the middle of the room. Breaking into a sprint, she dashed towards them, who had turned to meet her with surprise in their faces. Just before she reached them, Zoe jumped, latching on to Kaneki before she could fall(and forcing the man to quickly grip onto her in order to support her weight, another action that made the fires of hatred for him burn brighter in her gut) and burying her face in his chest. She muttered something quietly enough that none of them could hear it despite their enhanced senses, although it made Hestia laugh briefly and caused Kaneki to rest a hand on her head. It appeared that this was either a common occurrence, or the enigma was just unsurprised by anything he encountered. Soon enough, an out-of-breath Apollo burst through the doors, words dying on his lips before he could say a single one. Over Zoe’s head, the monster levelled a glare with mismatched eyes, stopping Artemis’ brother in his tracks long enough for strings to drag him all the way in and bind him to his throne. 

The Olympians. Gods, those that had been worshipped the most in ancient Greece and still managed to survive and thrive in this day and age because of the faith people had in them. Some of the most powerful beings in the world. Taken down by a single monster who had been lurking in the shadows, and the equivalent of silly string. Experimentally, she tugged at a thread and mentally compared the colour of it to that of his kagune. Perhaps this was just another application of his versatile additional limbs? Kaneki clapped twice, Zoe having finally extricated herself from him, gaining their attention. 

“Apologies for the little fiasco. I’ve been rather irritated, and day one hasn’t ended just yet. A little bit more, and I’ll finally be able to take a nap. So,” he snapped his fingers and the strings responded by unravelling just enough for her to tug the gag off her mouth, “what questions do you have for me now? Oh, and, one last thing before you start.” the temperature of the room seemed to drop as he transfixed them with a withering glare. 

“Don’t do anything stupid, I’ve already put two gods out of commission. We wouldn’t want to make that three, am I right?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s the end of that. I have no idea what I’m doing. Leave a review or something. It’s refreshing hearing from you all. See ya next time!


	11. His smiles are like broken glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something experimental.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, next chapter! I’ve decided that it’s about time I just...let things run their course and embrace the chaos. I mean, I’ve never really had a plan for this story, especially if you consider the fact that I abandoned it about two or three years back, so let’s make it up as we go along and just enjoy the ride.

If a month ago, or even a week ago, you asked Artemis if a mortal could fight the gods, she would laugh in your face and tell you that whatever poor soul that decided to do such a thing would be struck down on the spot and enjoy a nice afterlife in the Fields of Punishment for daring to oppose higher beings. And yet, that was exactly what Kaneki Ken was doing. Of course, he couldn’t exactly be considered a mortal when you took into account his extra limbs, insane regenerative ability and the passive immortality Zoe had mentioned he possessed. Still, that would only elevate him to the position of minor deity, or monster. She was leaning towards monster. No mere man could hide so much emotion behind a single expression, one that wavered and twitched but never dropped until his rage boiled over. Perhaps he could even be considered a berserker, yet even when he was tearing apart her father or turning Ares into a sniveling mess, his eyes remained clear and aware of the world around him. And that was what made Kaneki Ken so dangerous, for he was an individual whose anger did not control him and set him on fire. Rather, it festered in his heart and manifested in the form of cold steel and a smile that came straight from Tartarus. There was nothing more deadly than an angry person with a calm head and clear mind. And despite how insignificant he seemed to be in the grand scheme of things, the monster had managed to topple her worldview within twenty four hours of their meeting, pulling trick after trick from his sleeve and constantly levelling the playing ground so that he would emerge victorious. It was, to Artemis, no surprise that her fellow Olympians were silent after his less than subtle threat. She herself was keeping quiet, but mostly because she had information to sort through and a puzzle to crack. Kaneki was exchanging words quietly with both Zoe and Hestia while a few gods attempted to escape their bindings(which only served to make them tighter). Despite the fact that he appeared to be focusing entirely on the conversation he was having, Artemis could see how his stance never uncoiled and occasionally, a finger would twitch in the direction of the god or goddess struggling the most at that point of time and the bonds on said divine being would tighten. This was...a bad situation, at the very least. 

Kaneki Ken had said that he had rejected the offer Kronus had made when it was first extended to him, but what stopped the monster from turning its back on the Olympians and allying himself with the very Titan that threatened to upset the fragile balance of the world? Her first answer to the question was that he had already promised to serve Olympus in exchange for the protection of his friends and Athena’s teaching, apparently. Then again, Ares had quickly botched the cease-fire rule by attempting to kill him. So what did that make his deal? Was it still in motion, or had the insufferable male pig broken the truce with his careless actions? If Kronus could see the sheer potential of their resident god-killer(if Hades was to be believed), the Titan of Time would do anything short of giving up his own life in order to have such a powerful ally on his side. The gods and Titans may be able to stand on equal fitting, but if you threw a wild card into the mix, things would change drastically. Numbly, she realized that there was nothing tying the inhuman to Olympus and the children of the gods. He had two known acquaintances, now three with the addition of Hestia of all people, one was a mortal and the other the daughter of a Titan. If Kronus were to make any exceptions for Kaneki’s loyalty, he could do so without batting an eye. Hestia had always been a pacifist, so her father might even decide to spare his daughter just because the oldest goddess was unlikely to rise up against him. As the conversation between the unlikely trio began to increase in volume(Kaneki was retelling them the story of what he had done) as Hestia ran a hand straight down her face and Zoe looked like she was about to slap the man again. It was funny(in an ironic, bitter way) that her cold and regal Lieutenant and the goddess who had been shoved into the background after Dionysus had replaced her on the Council were the two that were apparently close to the individual who had flown under their radar for years, decades even. A maiden who had sworn off love after being betrayed and erased from history. A goddess who had also taken the same vow of chastity that Artemis had, disappearing into the background and being replaced by the  _ God of Wine _ , of all possible people. A monster pretending to be a human, with a sword that hungered for as much blood as its master. The trio were from vastly different walks of life, and yet somehow they were here, talking like old friends in front of gods and goddesses that were being hog-tied to their thrones. Briefly, Artemis wondered if somehow someone had spiked her drink or food in order to generate this hallucination-worthy scenario. Growling to herself at the obvious affection the two women were showering on their male companion and how he wasn’t batting an eye despite it looking like he had both of them wrapped around his fingers, Artemis wondered if it was too late to smite the mortal.  _ Probably. _

Parley apparently over, Kaneki turned to the Goddess of the Hunt and made a twisting gesture with his left hand. Surprisingly, the threads unravelled from her chest, legs and arms, freeing her from her bindings. Rubbing the marks on her wrists and calculating how long it would take for her to draw and fire her bow after summoning it, Artemis levelled the sharpest glare she could produce on the insolent being standing before her. His head was tilted at an angle, and the grin on his face was a lazy one that seemed to taunt her inability to do anything to stop him or free her brethren. Looking around, the feeling of powerlessness bubbling in her chest was reflected on the faces of the other gods and goddesses(minus Athena, she could see the gears turning in her head and Hephaestus, who didn’t seem to care at all) and she clenched a fist in barely restrained anger while taking several deep breaths. It wouldn’t help her at all if she lashed out now. Most likely, it would give a reason for Kaneki Ken to raze Olympus to the ground. While the Great Prophecy dictated that “a child of the eldest gods” would be the one to make that choice, she wouldn’t count on Fate to subdue the enigma with more secrets than anyone she had ever known. Something told her that any well made plan turned to dust as soon as it met contact with the monster. It wouldn’t even surprise her if that was one of their abilities. It would be another thing to put into the “life is weird but what else isn’t” box. Slowly, the bindings of the other Olympians also unravelled and returned to their master. Almost certainly mocking them, the strings twirled and defied gravity by hanging suspended in the air around him, almost like a three dimensional web. A few even curled around the fingers and wrists of his two companions, almost like he was protecting them as well.  _ Although _ , she thought with no small amount of irritation as Zoe giggled softly at a single strand that was brushing her face,  _ it was more likely that he was flaunting the fact that they trusted him. _ Hestia still had fire enveloping her hand, and that fire was a calm and soothing blue that did not reflect the current situation. Or maybe it just reflected the owner’s mental state. Kaneki didn’t seem bothered by it, but that was probably becaus he was crazy and had no aversion to anything that could cause him harm. 

“What do you want?” it was Hera that first spoke, and as high-and-mighty as she tried to appear, there was a minuscule flinch when Kaneki tilted to look at her with eyes gleaming with mirth. He shrugged, before raising a hand and ticking the fingers on it. 

“Oh, that’s a tough one. I want a peaceful life, maybe a million dollars, the secrets of the universe, but that’s beside the point. Right now, all I want is for you all to leave us alone. I’ll get back Zeus’ Master Bolt, not that I want to, but I need a nap before that. So what I’m trying to say is,” his eye abruptly turned black like ink was being injected into it, “ **anyone who tries the same thing good ol’ king of the skies will get a worse fate than his. Capiche?** ” Hera nodded frantically, desperately trying to become one with his throne as the air seemed to grow heavy and a few gods and goddesses even began to start struggling to breathe with the sheer presence he was giving off. And in the blink of an eye, Kaneki Ken had reverted back to his normal state, flashing two thumbs up signs before tipping an imaginary hat. 

“Good, good. Now we’re going to leave. See you in the foreseeable future.” Zoe grabbed on to one arm as Kaneki melted into the floor. Hestia watched them go with a small wave, and once they were gone, she offered an apologetic smile to the Olympians. 

“Sorry about Kaneki’s behaviour. He’s been on edge lately. Don’t blame him for it.” the fire started to spread from her hand to the rest of her body as she spoke, and it was clear that Hestia intended to leave as well. Before she could, Athena blurted out a question. 

“Why do you know him?” the fire stopped its ascent to the top of her head, and the goddess in child form tapped her chin at the question, not at all bothered by the fact that she was on fire. 

“It’s complicated. The long story would probably take a few days to explain, but I think the short version will suffice. And he’ll probably be fine with it. Who knows? He’s not exactly the boss of me.” she took a deep breath before the fire receded from her body. Lost in some memory, her eyes glazed over for a brief moment before the clarity returned to them, sharper than ever. 

“My domain is hope. In the modern world, hope is hard to come by. You have people with determination, passion and other driving factors. But very rarely do you see hope. Indeed, people do hope for a better life. For a chance to turn their lives around. And I always try to turn that hope into reality for the people who need it the most,” her eyes dimmed and a sad smile stretched across her face, “but rarely does that work out. I also tend to the hearth, and it is rare to find one still lit. Most are just brief and meant to bring a little warmth and comfort before being extinguished. So imagine my surprise when I find a hearth that had been fed for months, never dying or running out of fuel despite the sheer amount of fuel it would take. And imagine my surprise when I find out that it was just one person tending to it.” her smile took on a hint of nostalgia. 

“He was an interesting person from the start. I could tell that he had held so much hope in his heart at one point of time. I can sense that in people. It pains me every time someone’s hope is extinguished, and the echoes of his fire getting extinguished ran so deep that I could feel them. Even though it had probably been years, or even decades since the last bit of hope had been stamped out from his heart. Normally, that would just signify a broken individual. One that had given up on the world,” Hestia paused and recomposed herself, an edge of anger and what sounded like admiration creeping into her voice, “and yet he was perfectly fine. Almost used to it, if you could call it that. There was no hope in him. He was so cold, despite the fire he had stoked blazing bright. So, well, I guess you could say that I took it upon myself to fix him. Introduce a little bit of hope back into his life, so that his smiles stopped looking like they didn’t fit on his face. Originally, I was going to discreetly prod his life back to the right direction.” another pause, and Hestia fiddled with a small bracelet with two symbols on it. A lit torch and what appeared to be a teardrop. 

“The first time I stopped surveying him from a distance and started tending to his fire for him, Kaneki asked me a question when I thought he was asleep. He asked me why I had been watching him. And when I answered, he laughed. He said that it had been a long time since someone had tried to fix his life. And then I made a deal with him. I would stop observing him from the shadows, and he would listen to whatever I had to say. It was an odd deal, but one I enjoyed in the next few months. It’s been a long time since someone noticed me at the hearth, and an even longer one since someone had tried to befriend me. So I guess the easiest way to say it would be that I was trying to fix him.” she smiled almost bitterly at a joke that only she could hear as the flames began to envelope her once again. And just before she vanished, Hestia laid down some parting words to end her story. 

“But in the end, it’s hard to tell whether I was the one helping him or he was the one helping me.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter chapter than usual in order for me to sort out my thoughts. A quick heads up, by the way. Since I still need to figure out which way this story is going, I might be taking a brief break and removing this one from my daily update schedule in order to provide content that isn’t crack. Anyway, I’ll see you next time.


	12. Calmness begets Calamity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the author, back again with a story they said they were gonna update but couldn't summon the last dregs of motivation to do so. In any case, I hope this comes out soon. To those on , sorry for the wait. I have a couple of stories on ao3 that aren't on this site, and those have been taking up more of my time. Thought I'd write this cause I have a bunch of free time. Expect shorter, but more frequent chapters. I hope.

Sally Jackson wondered, not for the first time, if the effort she would have to put into strangling Ken would be worth it. It wasn’t exactly something she had thought of until recent events had run their course, but now it was an idea that gnawed away at her self-restraint every time she added another point to the list of things her employer had kept from her/done in the past couple of days. Of course, she was thankful that the value he placed on her life was higher than the continued protection of his identity as some immortal slayer (and she wouldn’t lie and pretend it wasn’t something extremely flattering). However, it was as if the man’s brain had taken one look at the fact that he was no longer hiding away and pretending to be a mortal, then proceeded to make every possible bad decision one after the other. Naturally, there were things that the gods were keeping from them. Unfortunately for the divine beings, Sally Jackson had not hidden her son away for more than a decade without picking up a few things about finding out stuff that people didn’t want her to find. It was particularly useful in ensuring that no suspicious individuals came close to Percy, and had been successful until a Fury masquerading as a teacher went undercover just to hunt down her boy. 

She ticked off the points in her head once again with practiced ease even as she watched Percy fumble with one of the training swords against another camper (Luke was his name, and while she wouldn’t keep an eye on her son if Chiron had been training him, this one triggered red flags in her head and she couldn’t figure out why), flexing her fingers and relishing the strain. Killing the Minotaur she could excuse, especially since it prevented her from becoming a smear on the ground. Defeating an army of monsters was also acceptable, for Camp Half-Blood was at stake. Everything after that however...

Knocking around the Hunters of Artemis like they were toys before escaping into a monster-riddled forest. Proceeding to lay traps that the “Hunters” couldn’t detect and essentially defeating what was the equivalent of Olympus’ special forces (according to information obtained from a little prodding of the resident centaur). Beating the Goddess of the Hunt herself and apparently fleeing with her Lieutenant. Challenging Zeus to a duel and utterly owning the god. Bargained with the twelve Olympians and destroyed Ares. Each act was more ludicrous than the former, and to think that he had managed all of them in the span of a day or two. Even now, after his disappearance, there was a tension in the air that continued to speak volumes of the impact he had managed to leave. The forest was still out of bounds to everyone but Chiron and the camp’s resident god, and more than one cabin had to have their walls or windows fixed up after Hunters had been thrown into them. Several craters created from Ken swinging around his supposed “god-slayer” were left untouched, especially when no new plant life decided to grow in the soil. She wasn’t too certain of her suspicions, but it was likely that the weapon had somehow managed to leech the very life out of the soil. Terrifying, but fascinating at the same time. What sort of divine relic could do such a thing? And how had the soft-spoken man with a newly discovered dark side chanced upon it? After all, despite all the rumours flying around about the true identity of one Kaneki Ken, he was still human. Well, relatively human. Unless he was a half-blood with an obscure parent. That would explain the unnatural strength and his decision to stand against the gods rather than with them. 

Humming gently to herself as in a twist of fate, Percy managed to swiftly disarm his older opponent, she reflected on Poseidon’s choice to reveal himself as her son’s other parent. It was far too obvious that a child of the “Big Three” was forbidden, considering Hades had taken it upon himself to try and kill her son with no regards to the others who could have gotten caught in the crossfire. Annabeth, one of the few campers that seemed to be completely uncaring of Percy’s apparent status, had once mentioned to her how the pine tree at the border came about. The story was eerily similar to the one that had caused her to end up in this camp which she didn’t belong in. She was highly certain Poseidon had pulled many strings to make sure she stayed here rather than get kicked out onto the streets. It was a shame that technology was banned minus a single computer due to its apparent ability to draw monsters like a beacon. Being confined to the camp came with its benefits and drawbacks. On one hand, she could personally keep an eye on her son, and the other campers by extension. These were all children after all. Children raised to be soldiers, to worry about how to defend themselves against forces beyond mortal comprehension before worrying about their studies. On the other hand, it felt largely like being trapped in a cage. Part of the reason she was still here was that the gods were using her to try and draw Ken out. She was the last link they had between the man who had saved her and the mortal realm. Still, she doubted that he would come back. Her boss was a man with many tricks up his sleeves and a reputation amongst both mortals and gods. It would be all too easy for him to cut his losses and vanish into the wind. 

Sighing softly at the thought of not seeing Kaneki Ken once more, she wondered if he would remember her. The white-haired individual had touched many lives, and her story was far from special. His cafe was filled with workers that had once been cast aside, who had no other places to go. Each and every one of them would gladly lay down their lives for the man who had picked them back up. She wondered if they had noticed her disappearance, and if Ken had gone back to visit them for one last goodbye. She shooed Percy away, motioning that he should probably attempt to socialize, smiling slightly as he fell into alongside Grover and Annabeth, the trio acting like they had been friends for far longer than they had been acquainted. Her son held his heart under lock and key, but there was a pull to him that he had never quite been able to hide. People were drawn to him, and while that caused more harm than good, she knew that one day his nature would allow him to accomplish great things in life. She just hoped that she would still be around to see him grow and succeed in life. As the training grounds gradually emptied of campers, she leaned back in her chair and thought about her future. 

“After all,” she confided in the air as the last groups of teenagers departed noisily, “he won’t be around to save me next time.” 

The words were loud in the silence, but with no one around to hear them, they vanished into the wind. Just as she was contemplating whether to get up and find something to do other than brood about Ken or keep an eye on her son, she looked up, hoping to catch a glimpse of the stars untainted by man. 

Only to find a pair of familiar grey eyes instead of the stars she was looking for. Caught off-guard, Sally tried to recover her wits even as her brain struggled to comprehend how the other had snuck up on her without anyone noticing. Noticing her confusion, a small smile graced his face as gloved fingers reached out to gently flick her forehead. 

“I promised to protect you. And I always keep my promises.” 

* * *

Percy Jackson returned to where he had last seen his mother after a couple of minutes of attempting to get the two other teenagers who were almost constantly hovering around him to leave. He was unsuccessful in the end, but years of hiding and slipping past his bullies in school had made the boy adept at escaping from pretty much any situation. He walked slowly, hands in his pockets and head ducked down to avoid any unwanted attention. 

He was a child of the sea. A son of Poseidon. And according to the daughter of Athena, he wasn’t supposed to exist. Percy rubbed his chest slightly, wondering why it still stung when his brain conjured up the memory of the blonde telling him, very matter-of-factly, that his existence was a crime. One would think that he would have been used to it after how long he had spent with his guard up, lashing out at the world when it decided to toy with him. But then again, Camp Half-Blood was different. Here was a collection of individuals who didn’t fit in the mortal world, with traces of ichor in their veins that had painted targets on their backs. A dark voice in the back of his head that was gradually becoming stronger ever since he had bore witness to Kaneki Ken’s acts of madness whispered that he really didn’t belong, and the solution to that was simply to disappear. Permanently. 

With practiced ease, he shoved that voice back into its cage, turning the corner and taking a quick glance to check if his mom was still there. Unsurprisingly, his eyes caught the telltale glimpse of the woman who had almost been forced to lay down her life for her son instantly. However, it was the cloaked figure standing over her that gave him pause. The stranger seemed to be fading in and out of existence, despite being very real and having their arms braced against the back of the chair his mother was sitting on. The rational course of action here would be to raise the alarm, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that Sally Jackson was in no sort of trouble whatsoever. 

She was smiling up at the other, whose face was concealed from Percy’s view, but from their body language alone, he could tell that the figure was smiling just as brightly. Something in his gut twisted, something awfully similar to jealousy. The urge to march up to the duo and demand answers was stronger than ever, especially when his mom reached up to cover the stranger’s hand with her own. Instead, he watched as his mind whirred.

Somehow, this person had slipped into Camp Half-Blood undetected. Somehow, they had managed to locate Sally Jackson and found her conveniently alone. And somehow, his mother knew this oddity. All the signs pointed to this cloaked figure being the man who had challenged the gods and walked away unscathed. Kaneki Ken. From what little he had managed to pry out of her the days after their world had been turned upside down, Kaneki was her boss. Someone who had been there in her time of need and hadn’t hesitated to extend his hand. His mom made it sound like that was all that there was, but the tender look that had crossed her face when she was speaking about the man plus the affection in her voice screamed that she was very, very attracted to Kaneki Ken. Percy...didn’t really know how to feel about that. On one hand, his mother was a grown woman, with enough wits at her fingertips to ensure he had gone undetected for more than a decade. She knew what she was doing. On the other hand, she had confessed that Kaneki’s apparent infamy in the realm of Greek Gods and his powers were a complete mystery to her. The only things she had been able to state with confidence was that he acted far older than he looked, and possessed a dark side that was more suited to be the persona of a serial killer. He wouldn’t trust this “Kaneki” with anything more valuable than his left shoe. His jaw tightened at the audacity of this man, who had waltzed into their lives like he owned them. 

Clenching and unclenching his fists, Percy walked away with a huff, deciding that it was probably in his best interest to cool off before confronting the duo. It wasn’t one hundred percent certain that Kaneki Ken was simpy stringing his mother along because he had already known about her son’s connections to the godly realm. It could simply be that the man had feelings for her. 

_However,_ he thought as a chill ran down his spine, _I highly doubt that._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that’s a wrap. A simpler chapter for me to get back into the swing of things, with some exposition. I’m unsure of what direction this story will take, but I’ll see it through as best as I can. See you all next time.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that’s the start of my reboot. How did you find it? I’ve decided to take a slightly different route this time round. Anyway, let me make one thing extremely clear before I continue. Well, two things. One, Kaneki will be seriously powerful. I’ll explain that in a chapter further down the road. Two, my update schedule may be a little off considering I now have three stories, soon to be four. I hope you enjoyed it. See you next time.


End file.
